RAHIM YAR KHAN: A Karachi-bound flight of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) got delayed for six hours because of its non-functional cargo door here on Monday morning, causing great inconvenience to the passengers.

Sources told Dawn when all the passengers boarded the PK-583 at 8:30am, the cargo door of the ATR plane stopped working. The staff initially tried to close the door but to no avail.

Later, all the passengers were off-loaded and sent back to the departure lounge of the Sheikh Zayed International Airport (SZIA) where they were provided snacks and juices by the PIA staff.

Meanwhile, the PIA administration sought technical assistance from Karachi and Lahore airports.

Finally, technical staff arrived at the SZIA from Lahore by a flight, PK-672, who repaired the computerised cargo door after which PK-583 departed for Karachi at 3pm.

PIA spokesperson Mashhood Tajwar told Dawn that due to a “technical issue” with the aircarft’s cargo door the Karachi-bound flight PK-583 was delayed till 3pm.

Meanwhile, he said, the passengers were disembarked and served refreshments and lunch.

“The PIA management regrets the inconvenience caused to the passengers”, he said and added the national flag carrier never compromised on passengers security and ensured complete flight safety.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2019