7, April 2005	Thursday	27 Safar 1426

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KARACHI, April 6: A Pakistan International Airlines passenger jet bound for Paris was forced to turn back after a fire alarm in one of its engines, officials said on Wednesday. The Airbus A310 returned to Islamabad airport five or six minutes after taking off on Tuesday, having travelled around 32km, the national carrier said in a statement. None of the 158 passengers and 10 crew was hurt and the plane landed safely, the airline added.

“Preliminary investigations have revealed that the aircraft landed back due to a fire warning on its engine number two, caused by metal failure in one of the engine ducts,” the statement said. The airline dismissed local media reports that the fire warning on flight PK 769 was caused by one or more burst tyres.

The airline said that the matter was being taken up with the engine manufacturers.

—AFP