ISLAMABAD, April 27: Manchester-bound Pakistan International Airline’s Boeing 777 was involved in a fire scare at the Islamabad International Airport on Friday morning.

Flight PK-701 was delayed by one hour and 45 minutes and finally departed after necessary checks.

The problem was noticed while the aircraft, AP-BGL, was being prepared for departure and passengers had boarded the plane.

Engineers told this reporter that there was slight sparking and smoke in the Auxiliary Power Unit and component in the tail that powers the aircraft while it is parked on the ground.

“Some smoke was noticed by the staff on ground and the fire response system was immediately positioned,” a source at the airport said.

Replying to a question, the source said, the faulty equipment was not repaired and was only disconnected. “It was perfectly safe to fly with it,” he added.

President fo the Society of Aircraft Engineers Pakistan (SAEP) Shaukat Jamshed confirmed that the aircraft left without replacement of the faulty APU and the Karachi base station had been notified for arranging the spare part. The passengers were not off-loaded.

It should be recalled that Boeing 777s are the only aircraft in the airline’s entire fleet that have been permitted by the European Union to fly to its member states and are considered safe. However, there were safety concerns about the rest of the fleet.