KARACHI: There was no fire on the PIA flight PK 308 (Karachi-Islamabad), a spokesman of the Civil Aviation Authority, Pervez George, said here on Sunday evening.
He said that the scheduled time of PK 308 (Karachi-Islamabad) was four p.m. However, the flight was delayed for an hour due to technical reasons.
When the plane was ready for departure at five p.m., one of its engines did not start. Upon this the flight was stopped and the passengers disembarked, the CAA spokesman added.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry along with Parliamentarians and other important figures were on board the PK308 plane, when the incident happened, DawnNews reported.
The people on board the plane included MNA Yousuf Talpur, Federal Secretary Gul Muhammad Rind, Federal Minister Maula Bux Chandio, MNA Shireen Arshad and Roedad Khan among others.
Sources said that the passengers had to wait for an hour on the plane before they were taken off. Sources also said that the chief justice told PIA authorities at the airport that better measures should be taken to prevent such incidents from happening.
The chief justice also said that incidents like this have happened before, which has made things very difficult for him and the common man.