Another PIA plane suffers damage after hitting a bird, lands safely

KARACHI: The incidents of planes hitting the birds during flights are consistently increasing as another aircraft of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suffered damage near Karachi airport in a new case emerged within 24 hours, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The PIA flight from Islamabad to Karachi, PK-301, with many passengers on board escaped an accident after hitting a bird before landing at Karachi airport. A wing of the Airbus A-320 aircraft was damaged in the incident, however, the pilot managed to land the plane safely.

PIA spokesperson said the plane has been grounded.

It is the second case of bird strike reported within 24 hours which showed the negligence of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for making effective steps to clear the surrounding areas from the garbage.

Read: Bird strikes causing millions of rupees loss to PIA

Earlier, a newly-inducted plane in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) fleet escaped a deadly accident on Wednesday as its engine received damages following the bird strike.

The Airbus A-320 aircraft of the national flag-carrier, possessing BMX registration, which was inducted in the PIA’s fleet a few days ago met an accident during a domestic flight from Karachi to Lahore after a bird strike after it takes off.

Fortunately, the passengers of flight PK-304 remained safe in the incident as the plane landed back to Karachi after damages caused to its engine.

Read: Bird strikes into flight carrying passengers from KSA to Pakistan, damage reported

The PIA spokesperson said that damage is likely to cause a huge financial loss worth $5 million to the national flag-carrier.

The incident took place following the negligence of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as its management was given a prior warning for the presence of garbage around the airport.

The accident led to the delay of other flights as the spokesperson confirmed the suspension of scheduled flights, PK-305 and PK-306, to Karachi from Lahore.