18 January 2004	Sunday	25 Ziqa'ad 1424

RAWALPINDI, Jan 17: A PIA flight on Saturday was disallowed to disembark its passengers at the Islamabad airport after landing and directed to leave for Peshawar , while another was diverted to Multan due to what the authorities said "operational reasons".

However, a source at the airport said visibility was clear and flight operation was not stopped.

A domestic flight PK-356 arrived from Lahore at 10am, around one hour and forty minutes behind its schedule. But it was not allowed to disembark its passengers.

The Boeing 737 that arrived from Lahore was stopped at Bay 2 where it remained stood for nearly an hour, but nobody was allowed either to fix stairs or to refuel the plane. However, the plane was cordoned off by the security officials.

Among the passengers were some politicians, the interior secretary, journalists and an intelligence agency official.

"Everybody on board was in panic. Nobody, including Captain Shahid Burki and crew members, was aware of the problem," a passenger told Dawn.

Another passenger said: "First, we were told about some VVIP movement at the Islamabad airport, then about an hour later, the plan took off without specifying next destination."

Captain Shahid Burki was directed to take the plane to Peshawar after about an hour. The aircraft took off for Peshawar at 11am, but it was allowed to return to Islamabad at about 2.30pm.

"Women were sobbing, children were screaming while the top government officials, including the interior secretary, were watching helplessly," a terror-stricken passenger told Dawn.

Similarly, the second national flag carrier, PK-362, arriving from Karachi was diverted to Multan due to unknown reasons, before it entered the Islamabad air space.The Boeing 737 night coach scheduled to land at 7.25am was diverted to Multan at the same time when PK-356 was disallowed to disembark its passengers.But at about 2.45pm, PK-362 was allowed to land at Islamabad.

Hundreds of relatives of the passengers had gathered at the Islamabad airport to receive their loved ones.

Some of them got panicked when they were told that PK-356 had been disallowed to disembark its passengers and was flown to somewhere else.