THATTA: A Pakistan Inter­national Airlines (PIA) training aircraft made emergency landing near Keti Bundar on Friday after it developed a technical fault, a spokesperson of the country’s flag carrier said in a press statement.

The statement said that the pilot and trainee co-pilot remained unhurt but the aircraft, a Cessna-172, sustained damage when it made emergency landing in the Baghan union council area in the morning. The names of the two-men crew were not disclosed.

According to facts collected from PIA officials, the aircraft had taken off from the Karachi airport at 9am and was on a routine training flight when it developed some technical fault. The pilot had to make an emergency landing in the thick woods which caused damage to the aircraft.

Some local fishermen, who appeared to be witnesses to the incident, told Dawn that the aircraft seemed to have gone out of its pilot’s control while it was hovering at a low altitude over the Baghan UC area. It nosedived at a high speed once and then flew upwards before touching the ground, they said, adding that the aircraft took a couple of rounds but finally made a rough landing in the thick woods.

A crowd of local residents gathered around the aircraft and they saw the crew de-boarding the aircraft, they said. None of the two men had suffered any injury as they told the people.

PIA officials, when contacted, said that an inquiry into the incident had been initiated while the process was under way to estimate the damage caused to the aircraft.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2019