PIA flight from Peshawar to Jeddah lands in Karachi after bird strike
A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight en route to Jeddah from Peshawar on Tuesday was forced to change course and land in Karachi instead when a bird hit the nose of the aircraft.
The nose of the aircraft, which was a Boeing 777 carrying around 300 passengers, was damaged as a result of the bird crashing into it. The pilot was advised to land the plane at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport.
PIA spokesperson Mashood Tajwar said flight PK-735 had taken off at 5pm from Peshawar. Only a few kilometres into its journey, a bird crashed into the aircraft's nose.
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"We made a decision to land the plane in Karachi at around 7pm and inspect the aircraft for damages. There was a possibility that a part would need replacement and once in Jeddah, there would have been a considerable delay in having the part flown in from Pakistan," the spokesperson explained.
Tajwar said the airline's engineers did the necessary repairs at the airport in Karachi and after clearance from the Civil Aviation Authority, the plane departed for Jeddah again at 9pm.
Comments (37) Closed
Why did they not turn it back to Peshawar? Why fly all the way from there to Karachi and play with danger?
They should not have flow all the way to Karachi without knowing the extent of the damage. The plane could have even crashed. This was a wrong decision.
@Jonjoe , very good observation
Who crashed into whom? Lucky for passengers, only bird was killed...
Gordon D. Walker
Canada
It's funny that the statement said plane was landed in Karachi so that parts dont have to be flown to Jeddah-decision purely based on monetary savings and no mention of protecting passengers lives.Long live PIA! That's why I never fly with 'great people' from Heathrow.
They are qualified engineers, they took the right decision. You know nothing about technicalities. There are complete procedures on how to handle bird strikes.
@Jonjoe , no repair facilities in Peshawar.
Angry Birds dont like PIA
That’s a big bird
@Jonjoe , that's right. This PTI government doesn't know what they are doing. Only tall claims about PIA performance getting better. Nothing done to prevent such accidents. Why did pilot hit the bird ? Never heard of such thing before.
@Jonjoe: when a flight departs with passengers, luggage and full tank of fuel then it requires a certain length of runway to land with such a heavy weight. Karachi runway is the longest in Pakistan where a plane with that much of load can land safely.
@Jonjoe , If you read the news carefully, this happened 2 hours after the takeoff.
@Jonjoe , Because Karachi is PIA's main engineering hub. If it is a non critical issue, airlines always choose to fly to their maintenance hub .
Sure wasn't that bird from India?
Hope the bird is ok
@Jonjoe , I m sure engineering facility is available only at Karachi and maybe at Lahore .
PIA always in news for bad incidents.
@Jonjoe , There was no danger to the aircraft---as there are multiple airports on the way---islamabad---lahore---multan----sukkur and multiple military air bases---if there was any serious emergency---.
These pilots were non matric
@Jonjoe ,
These pilots were non matric
The nose cone probably fell off like the aerobridge.
Wow, bird struck right after take off in Peshawar and they decided after 2hrs to land airplane in Karachi. Very weird.
@Jonjoe , probably because khi has a bigger repair setup and if the flight profile is not hampered, then the flight can be contiuned
The plane got hit near Peshawar and it was made to land at Karachi after 1 hour 45 minutes into the flight. Waoo PIA the damage seems quite significant judging from the picture. Are these relics Sharif left also, who knows this plane may still be operated by PML-N :P waiting for PTI mates to spill over their common sense here
Very composed and brave decision, coupled with good piloting skills. Good job captain.
Was the bird made of steel? Must be a super bird to cause such damage. An unfortunate situation to a already cash strapped airline. Now the extra baggage PIA carries in the form of lazy employees would also have to face a dent in their pay and bonuses.
@Unknown, Two hours after takeoff the flight is at an altitude of 28,000 feet, what type of bird flies that high, a dinosaur bird?
@Common Sense, Yup the Indians found out Pakistan sent a spying pigeon so they retaliated with a super bird.
was it a bird or elephant?
All of us are now experts on Aviation matters, but alas PIA is suffering colossal losses .
PIA put passengers safety on line while trying to take plane to Karachi since parts and skilled labor was there. Pure economic decision.
Conclusion: birds are faster than PIA planes.
All have Question in mind what actually damaged and fixed can have better understanding on Pilot decision. Pls support
Bird cannot fly to that height i.e. 28000 ft.
I commend the pilot. Smart move! he probably saved a lot lives. Good going PIA. My first plan e flight was on a PIA Boeing 6707. I flew to London during that same year, and I remember that the flight could not land due due to very thick fog/ So the pilot carried on to Paris, but there too it was difficult to land. However, the pilot was so good, I watched through the window as he blindly approached the runway, and landed maybe just a couple hundred feet from it.It was an excellent landing. PIA was once such a great airline. I hope it regains its glory once again!
@Jonjoe , The pilot was using a smart option, and being cautious.
@Ash, you mean to say flights cannot land in Peshawar???? they can only take of???:)