PIA aircraft makes technical landing at Lahore airport

LAHORE: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-755 was forced to make technical landing at Allama Iqbal International airport owing to smoke in the plane’s cargo compartment, ARY News reported. 

The international flight with more than 300 passengers on board was travelling to Riyadh from Sialkot when the pilot noticed smoke in the rear cargo compartment of the plane. All passengers and crew members were evacuated upon landing and were unharmed, said a PIA spokesperson.

He said it was unclear what caused the smoke, adding a thorough inspection of the plane has been underway to determine the cause.

The airlines spokesperson said that the flight will leave for Riyadh after getting clearance from the engineering department.

On Tuesday, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Aviation Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan revealed to the media that the national flag carrier had incurred the cumulative losses amounting to Rs 400 billion in a decade with a loss of Rs 40 bn last year alone.

He said the plan to revive the lost glory of the PIA was on the cards and added that the national flag carrier will increase its strength to 50 aircraft by 2019.