QUETTA, March 1: A PIA Haj flight, carrying 261 pilgrims, safely arrived here after being delayed for over nine hours on Monday. The flight was scheduled to arrive in Quetta at 7:30am but it landed at the Quetta International Airport at 4:30pm.

PIA officials attributed the delay to a technical fault that developed just before its departure from Jeddah. In Jeddah, a PIA flight aborted takeoff as one of its engines was damaged after being hit by an object, airline officials told APP.

They said that the engine was damaged after its fan blades were hit by an unspecified object. An alternate flight was scheduled to depart Jeddah for Quetta on Monday morning.

PIA officials said the incident occurred as the Haj flight, PK-2002, started its takeoff run, adding the captain of the Airbus aircraft had noticed a change in engine noise.

The captain aborted the takeoff run for the safety of the Quetta-bound passengers. They said an investigation was being carried out in this regard, officials told APP.