KARACHI: Over three dozen passengers aboard a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight were offloaded after one of them mistakenly opened the emergency door of the aircraft on the runway at Manchester airport, the national carrier said on Saturday.

“The PIA flight, PK 702, from Manchester to Islamabad was delayed by seven hours. The departure was delayed on Friday night when a passenger erroneously opened the emergency exit causing the emergency chute to activate,” said a PIA spokesperson.

“As per standard operating procedure, the PIA had to offload nearly 40 passengers and their luggage,” he added.

He said that the offloaded passengers were provided transportation and hotel accommodation. “They will be adjusted on the next available flight,” he added.

The spokesperson said that PIA chief executive Air Marshal Arshad Malik had ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2019