LAHORE: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) cleared a flight en route to Riyadh for take off after the plane made an emergency landing at the Lahore airport earlier today.
Flight PK-755 en route to Riyadh from Sialkot was forced to land at the Allama Iqbal Airport, after the pilot observed smoke in the cockpit, leading him to believe that there might be some issue with one of the engines.
Meanwhile, PIA Public Affairs General Manager and Spokesperson Mashhood Tajwar later clarified that Riyadh bound PK755 flight had to make a technical landing rather than an emergency landing. He added that some malfunctioning in the aircraft caused a smoke signal detector to activate in the cargo compartment.
The pilot, in compliance with the Standard Safety Procedure, resorted to using fire extinguishers and made a technical landing at the Lahore airport. Subsequently, the passengers were disembarked. Meanwhile, the cargo compartment was thoroughly checked to fully ensure that no traces of fire were detected.
Since safety procedures call for the aircraft to undergo a comprehensive check both by the PIA engineering and CAA as well replacement of fire extinguishers, an alternate arrangement was made for passengers and PK 755 was expected to take off at 2 pm from Lahore.
The flight had over 300 passengers onboard at the time of the incident, who were all safely transferred to the airport’s lounge.
No one was reported hurt in the incident.
