New Delhi: Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) spokesman Saifur Rehman on Sunday said, “An Indian airliner carrying 186 passengers from Sharjah made an emergency landing at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport — the second such incident this month — after reporting a “technical defect” in the wee hours of Sunday,”
The IndiGo airline plane was bound for Hyderabad Deccan and landed “safely” at the Karachi airport after seeking permission from the air control tower at 2:14 am. The passengers were allowed to disembark the plane and were taken to the transit lounge.
An alternative aircraft of the Indian airline has reached the Karachi airport from Ahmedabad to take passengers to their destination after fulfilling the necessary formalities.
The airliner IndiGo issued a statement saying that its flight 6E-1406 heading from Sharjah to Hyderabad Deccan was diverted to Karachi after the pilot observed a technical defect. Necessary procedures were followed and as a precaution, the aircraft was diverted to Karachi. The aircraft was currently being examined at the Karachi airport.
Earlier this month, a Dubai-bound flight carrying nearly 100 passengers from New Delhi had also made an emergency landing at the Karachi airport after it reported an ‘oil leak’.
The Directorate General Of Civil Aviation was quoted as saying that the pilots had observed an unusual reduction in fuel quantity and suspected a leak. However, no evidence of the fuel leak was found after the aircraft landed.
A day later, India’s aviation regulator issued a warning notice to SpiceJet after a review of recent incidents — including an aircraft’s emergency landing at Karachi airport — showed “poor internal safety oversight and inadequate maintenance actions” by the airline.
(Vinayak)