A Pakistan Navy (PN) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed in Korangi on Tuesday after it hit a bird while flying at a low height. The small aircraft fell inside the premises of the National Refinery Limited (NRL) but no damage to the oil refinery was reported.
The small aircraft smashed into pieces and fire broke out in its fuel tank. Fire brigade vehicles rushed to the spot to extinguish the fire to avert a disaster in the oil refinery. After effort lasting hours, the fire was doused and the PN cordoned off the area.
PN spokesman Commander Salman Ali said PN UAV was on a routine flight when it hit a bird during a very low level flight and fell inside the NRL premises. He said the small plane was destroyed in the crash, but there was no damage reported to the refinery.
“The PN UAV was used for photography, surveillance and reconnaissance,” the PN spokesman added. Korangi Town Police Officer Salman Ghani Siddiqui told Pakistan Today that the incident took place just opposite the Korangi Industrial Area police station at 10:55am. “When the police reached the spot, they saw that the plane had caught fire and some people were busy extinguishing the blaze,” he said.
The police and Pakistan Rangers were not allowed to share the burden of the PN in the salvage operation and they were stopped outside the NRL premises.
The PN also restrained fire brigade vehicles from entering the NRL and its own fire tenders were called from its base to extinguish the fire.
Chief Fire Officer Saleem Ehtesham told Pakistan Today that two fire tenders rushed to the spot, but they were not allowed to enter the premises.
According to official sources, the UAV is scaled-down version of a full sized aircraft and it is used for aero-modelling, but it is not a drone-like technology as it is incapable of carrying arms to target an area, and it can only be used to capture images with the help of camera placed on it.
They said the National Refinery Limited area is not a no-flying zone and the Pakistan Air Force uses the route for air trafficking.
