KARACHI – A charter plane crash landed minutes after takeoff from Jinnah International Airport.
Authorities have confirmed that two people were injured due to crash-landing. Besides 18 passengers the plane was carrying three crew members. Jinnah International Airport’s runway was shut for all kinds of departures and arrivals until further instructions.
Pakistan International Airline is running in losses for the past many years. The government has decided to sell around 26 percent shares of the national airline.
The PIA employees did not take the decision well though the government had maintained that it is essential for the betterment of the institution. In January, deficit of Pakistan International Airline was reported to be around Rs 19 billion despite 42 percent shrinkage owing to fall in prices of oil products in international market.
From January 2015 to September 2015, revenue of the national airline decreased by nine percent. The total revenue of PIA in the last nine months was Rs 69 billion.
Plunge in oil prices in the international market resulted in 42 percent decrease in PIA’s deficit. The airlines purchased fuel worth Rs 22 billion in the January-September 2015 period. Last year in November, a pilot was charged with attempted murder and terrorism after Shaheen Airline’s aircraft crash landed at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport. The pilot was charged as he was found drunk.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had conducted medical examination of the crew members which revealed that the pilot was not intoxicated but fatigued as well.