The national carrier Pakistan International Airline (PIA) recently discovered a plot that could’ve caused one of its planes to crash during mid-flight. According to various media outlets, one of PIA’s ATR planes was sabotaged in Karachi.
The concerned authorities discovered loose nuts, bolts, steel wires and other materials while checking the ATR plane, pointing to signs that the aircraft had been sabotaged by nefarious elements.
Informed sources claimed that in the event that the plane had taken off without undergoing inspection, it would have crashed mid flight. To their credit, PIA engineers foiled the plot by discovering the problem beforehand.
PIA’s vigilance team has launched an investigation into the matter to determine the source of the tools used to dismantle the aircraft. The team is also looking over the material found in the engine compartment of the aircraft.
It should be mentioned that the ATR plane in question, registered under “APBKY”, flew from Bahawalpur to Karachi between Friday and Saturday just last week. It was supposed to head to Faisalabad the next day.
The forementioned tools and material found in the plane had caused both of the engines of the plane to fail. PIA’s cumulative loss due to the engine failure amounts to more than Rs. 60 million.
After discovering the fault, the airline has grounded the plane. Counting this aircraft, currently 5 of PIA’s ATR planes are now grounded out of a total of 9.
PIA seems to be running in a lot of trouble with ATR planes as of late. You may recall last year’s plane crash at Havelian.
Flight PK 661 crashed after taking off from Chitral. The plane was headed to Islamabad and crashed near Havelian. It was carrying 42 passengers with 5 crew members and a flight engineer. Famous singer turned religious activist Junaid Jamshed was on board with his wife when the plane crashed.
The same plane had experienced engine failures in the past and had crash landed back in 2009. Thankfully this plane’s malfunction was discovered early on and a crash was avoided.
Via Express News
