Quetta-bound flights cancelled
QUETTA, Feb 21: All Quetta-bound flights from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Dubai were cancelled on Tuesday because the runway which was closed on Monday could not be cleared for landings.
The runway was closed after a PIA flight coming from Karachi (PK 352) escaped disaster after two tyres of the aircraft burst while landing at the airport.
Over 100 passengers were on board the ill-fated aircraft, including Balochistan ministers Mir Sadiq Ali Umrani, Mir Ali Madad Jattak and Mir Zafarullah Zehri, when the incident took place.
“A Boeing 737 aircraft with new tyres and other equipment along with engineers was sent from Karachi but it could not land at the airport due to bad weather and strong winds blowing in the valley for the past 24 hours,” a senior official at the airport told Dawn.
However, he said that an ATR aircraft would be landing at the airport on Wednesday along with engineers, tyres and other equipment.
The affected aircraft could not be removed from the runway late in the night. Sources said that the landing gear was also damaged during landing.