Indonesian plane stuck in Karachi for 8 months

KARACHI: The ATR plane of Indonesia’s flag career airline has been stuck at the Karachi airport for the past 8 months due to a technical problem, ARY News reported on Saturday.

According to aviation sources, the ATR 72-600 aircraft of Garuda Indonesia International Airlines has been in Karachi for last 8 months.  The Indonesian plane suffered from engine malfunction and could not be repaired even after 8 months.

The aircraft landed in Karachi from Mutala Rajapaksa Airport Hambantota in Sri Lanka on July 26.

After refueling at the Karachi airport, the plane was supposed to go to the United Arab Emirates. Civil aviation sources say that before take-off from Karachi, there was a technical problem in the one engine of the plane. After repairing the engine, the aircraft took a test flight from the Karachi airport at 10:25am on August 19, but the defect could not be removed.

Notably, the flight crew, which had been on board the aircraft during the ordeal, departed for Jakarta, Indonesia, aboard another plane provided by the Indonesian aviation company.