PIA aircraft carrying CJP, lawmakers catches fire

The engine of an Islamabad-bound Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight caught fire just before take off on Sunday.
According to reports, the flight PK-308 was on the taxiway when the fire broke out in one of its engines and the plane was stopped before take off.
Declaring emergency, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) cancelled the flight. Rescue teams were sent in to bring the fire under control and evacuate the passengers. A private TV channel said that Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Law Minister Moula Bakhsh Chandio and several parliamentarians were on board. After the incident, the CJP summoned the senior-most officer of the PIA.
Defence Minister Naveed Qamar has also convened an emergency meeting of the PIA management in Islamabad on Monday. In an interview, Chandio said the passengers were made to remain in the aircraft for two hours, adding that the condition of several passengers deteriorated after the incident. He said the incident was “inefficiency and mismanagement” on the part of the PIA.
Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Yusuf Talpur said he would raise the issue during the next session of the National Assembly. He called for replacement of old aircraft.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Shireen Arshad said the aircraft’s doors were locked, and as a result she and some other passengers suffocated. She said they kept sitting in the plane for two hours without oxygen. She said the government should take serious notice of the incident.
Federal Secretary for Production Gul Mohammad Rind said that passengers were not even supplied water. He said people were crying in the aircraft and vowed never to travel with the PIA in future.
no fire:The airline later said that the flight had been called off due to “technical reasons”. Meanwhile, CAA Spokesman Pervez George denied that the aircraft’s engine had caught fire. He said the scheduled time of PK-308 (Karachi-Islamabad) was 4.00pm, but the flight had been delayed by one hour due to “technical reasons”. “When the plane was ready for departure at 5.00pm, one of its engines did not start. Upon this the flight was stopped and the passengers disembarked,” the CAA spokesman added.
According to a handout issued by the national flag carrier, “PK-308 was being operated on Boeing 747 which has four engines. At the time of departure three of its engine started normally while the fourth engine was not starting due to faulty starter while the plane was on ground for which the captain called the engineers. They tried to start the engine. When it did not start, the aircraft was parked and passengers were disembarked. The starter of the engine was changed and the same aircraft with 402 passengers took off from Karachi and safely landed in Islamabad at 09.30pm.”
A PIA spokesman further said that the electronic media kept televising the report of fire without verification, adding that such news damage the national flag carrier, which is a strategic national asset.