KARACHI/ISLAMABAD, April 17: A PIA aircraft carrying over 100 passengers made an emergency landing on Tuesday at the Karachi airport a few minutes after takeoff.
Three main tyres of the A-310 aircraft deflated during the landing because of excessive brake heating but the passengers and crew remained safe.
The captain of the Faisalabad-bound flight, PK-340, returned and made the emergency landing after the auto-pilot function of the aircraft failed.
The Airbus, AP-BDZ, lost control soon after takeoff and started sinking after attaining a height of about 1,000 metres.
Engineers said that there was a great difference in the sense of air speed from the left and right sides, which disturbed the engine functioning.
Society of Aircraft Engineers, Pakistan, President Shaukat Jamshed said the situation was pretty grave and could have resulted in a disaster.
The nose of the aircraft touched the airfield during the landing, resulting in damage to the nose wheel and windshields in addition to the ruptured tires.
A PIA spokesman said that the captain using manual controls determined that the fault had been possibly caused by erroneous air speed indications and decided to land back.
He said the aircraft had been grounded and a thorough inquiry into the incident was being undertaken. The aircraft would not fly till satisfactory rectifications were made under advice of the Airbus Industries and clearance of the Civil Aviation Authority.
The passengers departed on another aircraft a couple of hours later.
Sources said the Airbus had suffered similar problems twice during the past six months and PIA had carried out rectifications in consultation with the manufacturer.
“The aircraft has a nose-down tendency,” they said, adding that the problem could not be precisely located on previous occasions.
Experts said the aircraft would now require non-destructive testing. It was commissioned in March
