ISLAMABAD – PIA flight faces mishap at the Beijing International Airportcreating embarrassment for Pakistan.
In the second incident of its kind, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)flight was forced to offload 50 passengers at Beijing Airport after a crewmember mistakenly activated the emergency chute.
The Tokyo – Beijing – Islamabad flight had arrived from Tokyo’s Naritaairport a few hours earlier and was parked at Beijing airport. The planewas preparing for departure when the emergency door was activated causingan inevitable delay.
Around fifty passengers were disembarked as a result, along with theirchecked in baggage from the Boeing 777 aircraft (registration AP-BMH).——————————
According to PIA spokesperson Mashood Tajwar, the slide was activatedduring the loading of inflight refreshments. He also added that all theaffected passengers were provided with hotel accommodation and will beadjusted in the next available flight.
“Safety is our first and foremost priority, and as per standard operatingprocedure we had to offload nearly 50 passengers joining from Beijing alongwith their luggage,” he said, adding that the passengers were informedabout the cause of delay and were provided with accommodation.
“These passengers will be adjusted on the next available flight toPakistan,” he added.
The national carrier’s CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik has ordered an inquiryabout the incident. Disciplinary action is expected against the personresponsible for the incident.