CJ Iftikhar, minister Chandio, other VIPs stranded

KARACHI: The engine of the Islamabad-bound Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-308 caught fire just before take-off here on Sunday.

Declaring emergency, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) cancelled the flight. Rescue teams were sent in for bringing the fire under control and for evacuating the passengers. A private TV channel said Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Law Minister Moula Bakhsh Chandio and some parliamentarians were on board.

After the incident, the CJP summoned the senior-most officer of the PIA. Defence Minister Syed Naveed Qamar has also convened an emergency meeting of the PIA management in Islamabad on Monday.

In an interview, Chandio said they were made to remain in the plane for two hours as a result of which condition of some passengers got deteriorated. He termed it inefficiency and mismanagement on the part of the PIA.

Yusuf Talpur, MNA, said that he would raise the issue during the next session of the National Assembly. He called for replacement of old aircraft.

PML-N MNA Shireen Arshad said that the doors were locked and as a result she and some other passengers felt difficulty in breathing due to suffocation. She said they had to sit in the plane for two hours without oxygen. She demanded that the government must take serious action over the incident.

Federal Secretary for Production Gul Mohammad Rind said that passengers were not even supplied water. He said that the people were crying that they would not travel on this airline in future.

PIA, later, said that the flight was called off due to technical reasons. Meanwhile, a spokesman forthe CAA Pervez George said that neither there was any fire incident nor any sparking in the PIA flight PK-308 (Karachi-Islamabad) on Sunday evening.

He said that the scheduled time of PK-308 was 4:00pm, however, it was delayed for an hour owing to technical reasons.

When the plane was ready for departure at 5:00pm, one of its engines did not start. Upon this, the flight was stopped and the passengers were disembarked, the CAA spokesman added.

He said that the flight left for Islamabad after some time Sunday evening.Geo TV adds: The VIPs were flown to Islamabad by another plane while the remaining passengers, including former bureaucrat Roedad Khan, were sent to Islamabad by a normal flight. “Please pray for our safety,” said Roedad Khan.

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