RAWALPINDI: A Pakistan International Airlines flight from Abu Dhabi to Lahore which was diverted to Sialkot due to bad weather, aborted take-off when a bird struck the right engine at the Sialkot International Airport on Sunday.

The crew managed to stop the aircraft safely. With excellent professional skills of the cockpit crew, the aircraft fan blades saved the aircraft from further damage, a report sent to the authorities said.

As the inspection revealed three tyres of the aircraft have been flattened, the engineering department decided to ground the aircraft at the Sialkot Airport till the replacement of tyres.

The PIA flight PK-264 (A320) took off with 94 passengers and 08 crew members from Abu Dhabi for Lahore at 00.45 am on Sept 23, 2023.

During its approach, a heavy thunderstorm was reported in Lahore. The crew decided to divert the plane to Sialkot where it landed safely. After getting weather clearance from Lahore at 9.43 am, the crew decided to fly to Lahore.

During its take off roll, before the aircraft started accelerating down on runway in order to take off, a bird struck the ring engine of the aircraft. The crew applied full brakes and ground spoilers and was able to halt the aircraft safely before reaching the end of the runway. Later, the aircraft was parked in the parking area and passengers were sent by buses to Lahore which caused inconvenience to them. Nobody was reported hurt during aborted takeoff which frightened passengers.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2023