KARACHI: An international flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on early Saturday survived an unfortunate incident after one of the airplane engines caught fire mid-air shortly after takeoff.

According to the details, PIA flight PK 743 departed Karachi airport at 0500 hours with approximately 276 passengers on board. However, just a minute after becoming airborne, the control panel in the cockpit indicated a fire warning for one of the engines. This prompted the pilot to issue a mayday call to the control tower.

However, within seconds the fire warning light turned off on its own. Despite this, the pilot took no chances and decided to turn back and safely landed the aircraft back in Karachi by utilising the engine fire suppressant bottle.

Upon inspection by PIA engineering staff, no evidence of actual fire damage was found in any of the engines. It is believed that the fire indication may have been due to system malfunction. The incident has been reported to the PCAA’s airworthiness department which will initiate an investigation.

PIA spokesman said that standard procedures were followed by utilising the engine fire suppressant bottle and returning safely to Karachi. The captain also underwent mandatory post-incident testing as a precaution.

PIA spokesman said that around 92 flight passengers returned home while other passengers were shifted to hotels. He further said the flight departed again at 1700 hours on Saturday evening.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023