QUETTA: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft carrying around 100 passengers and crewmembers narrowly escaped a crash when it was about to land at Quetta airport on Friday.

According to sources, two fighter jets of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) mistakenly came in front of the PIA aircraft when its pilot was getting ready to land it at the airport.

However, the pilot of flight PK-368 managed to pull his aircraft upwards in time, and to avert a possible accident with the PAF jets.

The PIA pilot kept his aircraft airborne, as it circled the airport, until the two jets had landed at the PAF airbase located close by. Later, he landed his aircraft at the Quetta airport safely, after air traffic controllers had given him the permission to do so.

“The PIA aircraft continued to circle the airport for half an hour after its pilot had to revert it to take-off position from landing position in emergency,” a source at the airport said.

According to passengers, the aircraft experienced two jolts before the rather smooth landing.

“It was some technical error committed apparently by the air traffic controllers which put the aircraft in danger, causing panic among the passengers,” the sources said.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2014