Newly-inducted PIA plane escapes deadly accident, engine affected

KARACHI: A newly-inducted plane in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) fleet has escaped a deadly accident as its engine received damages following the bird strike, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The Airbus A-320 aircraft of the national flag-carrier, possessing BMX registration, which was inducted in the PIA’s fleet a few days ago met an accident during a domestic flight from Karachi to Lahore after a bird strike after it takes off.

Fortunately, the passengers of flight PK-304 remained safe in the incident as the plane landed back to Karachi after damages caused to its engine.

The PIA spokesperson said that damage is likely to cause a huge financial loss worth $5 million to the national flag-carrier.

Read: Passenger plane escapes crash after bird hit it near Peshawar

The incident took place following the negligence of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as its management was given a prior warning for the presence of garbage around the airport.

However, CAA officials made no progress for clearance of the surrounding areas from garbage despite receiving complaints, the spokesperson added.

The accident led to the delay of other flights as the spokesperson confirmed the suspension of scheduled flights, PK-305 and PK-306, to Karachi from Lahore.

In July, it emerged that the incidents of bird strikes were consistently increasing at airports across the country owing to the negligence of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Read: Bird strikes into flight carrying passengers from KSA to Pakistan, damage reported

More than 34 planes of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) were affected by bird strikes which caused millions of rupees loss to the national flag carrier during the last seven months.

Out of 34 planes, eight were severely damaged, sources added.

Most incidents of bird strikes were reported at Karachi and Lahore airports, wherein 15 and 11 PIA planes were affected respectively.

Moreover, two cases were reported from Sukkur, Peshawar and Quetta airports each while one was reported from Islamabad airport. Such incidents have badly disturbed flight schedules.