PIA plane engine hits Islamabad runway during landing
Pakistan Times Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani passenger jet tilted to one side, scraping an engine on the runway as it landed in Islamabad in poor weather on a flight from London on Monday.

None of the 376 passengers and about 18 crew aboard the Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 747 plane was hurt.

PIA's Manager, Publice Relations/Affairs Haji Mohammed Latif said the plane's right engine hit the ground when flight PK-786 was landing in fog at around 9:30 in the morning.

He said a team of engineers was examining the plane to investigate what happened.

The engine number-4 was damaged during the landing, he added.

Aero plane Grounded

Latif said the aero plane had been grounded and a team of engineers has been called from Karachi for examining the plane and to probe the incident.

Recap

This is the second incident, PIA has faced in less than a fortnight. Earlier, a major air disaster was averted on December-22, when two passenger aircrafts narrowly averted a mid air collision, some 50 KM from Rahim Yar Khan in Pakistan.

Last month, several people aboard a PIA airliner were injured when its pilot suddenly dipped the plane to avert a midair collision with another passenger plane during a domestic flight.

As the story goes, PIA flight PK-309 was coming from Islamabad to Karachi when it suddenly came face to face with another plane of Air Blue coming from opposite direction.

A passenger and a cabin crew in the PIA flight were slightly injured, said the airline spokesperson.

The injured passenger was identified as Anwar, whereas the cabin crew's name could not be known. Both the injured were provided first aid in the aircraft.

Narrow Distance

As reported earlier, the distance was very narrow, but the PIA pilot sensed the danger through the Warning System while the similar system, in the other aircraft also warned the other pilot.

To save their respective aircraft, both the pilots had to take either upward or downward dip, but both the pilots took downward dip.

Perspective

The PK-309 flying from Islamabad to Karachi and Air Blue plane coming from Karachi to Islamabad when they narrowly averted the collision near Rahim Yar Khan, due to, what was phrased as 'wrong navigation by air traffic control.'

"The disaster was only five seconds away, had the two aircraft continued flying on the same air corridor and there would have been a tragedy", a passenger told said.

The Karachi bound PIA flight, PK 309, carrying 179 passengers, while the Air Blue was carrying 137 passengers.

The imminent disaster

The imminent disaster was avoided due to last minute decision of the PIA pilot when he had to drop the altitude. "The air craft dipped so suddenly that a number of passengers hit the ceiling of the plane and were injured" the source said.

The Spokesperson for the national airline had said the PIA has ordered an inquiry into the event to find the real cause which led to the incident.

Yet it is still awaited. ●