Pakistan escapes two air tragedies

Daily Times

* Fuel tank of a private plane leaks as it was about to take off from Lahore airport * Emergency declared as tyre of another plane bursts during landing at Karachi airport

Just two days after the tragic plane crash in Islamabad that killed at least 127 people, two airliners of another private company escaped disaster on Sunday. In the first incident, one of the tyres of a Shaheen Air plane burst as it landed at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport. However, all the 122 passengers and six crewmembers on board remained safe, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman Pervez George said. Emergency was declared at the airport. He said the plane, a Boeing 737, coming from Islamabad landed at the airport at 12:16pm. Its left tyre burst as it landed. The CAA director general, Nadeem Khan Yousufzai, has ordered an immediate inquiry, the spokesman said. According to reports, the plane was to land at the 25-L runway at the Jinnah International Airport. A malfunction in the landing gear caused the tyre to burst. Firefighters were called in to prevent a fire. The runway was reopened eight hours after the incident. Meanwhile, at least three planes were diverted to Nawabshah airport. The second near-tragedy came when the fuel tank of another plane of the same airline began leaking as it was about to take off from the Lahore airport. Airport officials said the plane, carrying more than 200 passengers, was stopped before it was about to take off for Mashhad, Iran, as the authorities noticed a leakage in the fuel tank. Officials said the Boeing 737 had arrived from Dubai and was heading to the Iranian city when technicians noticed the leak. They attributed the leakage to overfilling of the fuel tanks. All the passengers were disembarked and transferred to the international lounge where they staged a protest. The CAA has fined the private airline for not maintaining its aircraft according to standards.