KARACHI, Aug 6: A Jeddah-bound PIA aircraft with 480 passengers and crew onboard had to make an emergency landing at Karachi airport on Saturday because of a mistake on the part of the airline staff.

The aircraft took off from the airport a few hours later after the problem was sorted out.

According to sources, the ground staff at the Sialkot airport forgot to take out a safety pin (lock) attached to the landing gear (wheels) of the Boeing 747 aircraft before clearing it for flying.

The sources said that as a matter of routine the ground staff take out the safety pin from the landing gear just before giving clearance for the flight and show it to the cockpit crew from the tarmac after which the aircraft moves to the runway.

The sources said that probably the ground staff forgot to take out the safety pin and naturally did not show it to the pilot and the crew also forgot about the procedure before take-off.

It was only after the aircraft was airborne and the pilot tried to shut the landing gear that it dawned on him that the wheels were not shutting (going back into the body). The pilot then decided to land at Karachi airport for checking.

The aircraft, which took off from Sialkot at around 5pm, landed at Karachi airport at around 7pm and during its stay at the Jinnah Terminal it was checked and refueled for its flight to Jeddah. The sources said the stress that the passengers had faced and agony that they had undergone could not be measured and they must have felt relaxed only after the aircraft landed safely.

PIA's public relations chief Anisa Rehman said that Sialkot–Jeddah (PK 745) flight with over 480 people, including 468 passengers, developed some minor fault in its gears and made a technical landing in Karachi.

The Boeing 747 Jumbo aircraft was cleared after checking and resumed its journey.