Pakistan’s private airline Fly Jinnah averted a fatal accident after the flight made an emergency landing in Lahore at Allama Iqbal International Airport last night.
The Fly Jinnah flight carrying 171 passengers from Karachi to Lahore caught fire mid-way, causing the flight to make an emergency landing after issuing a ‘mayday’ call to the airport authorities. All passengers and crew remained safe in the incident. Flight FL-846 left Karachi on Monday evening, according to the Pakistan Airport Authority.
The captain reported smoke in the cargo compartment and issued a mayday call at 7:15 PM. “Fly Jinnah flight, FL-846, safely landed at the Lahore at 7:23 pm,” the PAA said in a statement. “[Officials of] the Airport Authority’s Fire Department were present on the spot to deal with any emergency as per the SOPs (standard operating procedures).”
https://x.com/flyjinnah/status/1838251756435775767
All the passengers and crew were safely offloaded from the emergency exit gates of the aircraft. At 7:57 PM, authorities cleared the fire in the aircraft. Pakistan’s aviation protocols have undergone several check since the tragic PIA crash in Karachi in 2020. A scandal emerged wherein approximately 262 out of 860 active Pakistani pilots were said to have obtained fake licenses, leading to the grounding of around 150 pilots from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and other carriers. The tragic crash caused the suspension of PIA flights to European Union and other regions.
Read more: PIA cancels 8 flights, delays 35 others amid adverse weather
Meanwhile, Fly Jinnah has issued a statement following the emergency landing of the plane at Lahore Airport. The airline confirmed the incident in its official statement.
“In accordance with standard safety protocols, the flight crew followed the standard procedures, notified the airport, and the aircraft with all crew and passengers onboard landed safely in Lahore. Our technical team is currently conducting a thorough inspection to identify the cause of the alarm. We regret the inconvenient caused and assure the safety of our passengers and crew remains our main priority,” said the airline in its official statement.