PIA aircraft collides with staircase at Islamabad airport

[fahadshakeel]

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft in Islamabad collided with a passenger staircase while departing for Karachi on Thursday.

PIA’s Flight PK-373 was set to depart for Karachi when the aircraft collided with a passenger staircase while leaving the airport apron, damaging the wing of the aircraft.

According to PIA officials, the wing of the aircraft is being currently repaired and the flight will now depart for Karachi at 1:30 pm. Passengers have been shifted back to the passenger lounge.

Source: https://tribune.com.pk/story/1875613/1- ... ort-apron/

[fahadshakeel]

AP-BLT





Later PK373 departed at 14:02 with delay of approx 6hours. Wondering if the damage was really possible to fix in less than 6 hours or aircraft was replaced.

[siddhi817]

The frequency of damages done by the ground support vehicles has surged in the recent past in Pakistan, yet the equipment operators and handlers seem to be reluctant to address this issue.

Safety culture is non-existent in this country

[Abbas Ali]

PIA Airbus A320 (AP-BLT) had arrived in Islamabad at 6:43 AM as flight PK-246 from Dammam.

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/ap-blt

The A320 is grounded for repairs. Some more photos of aircraft's damaged wing. Probably after the rear door of the aircraft was closed, the mobile stairs after moving away from the aircraft collided with its wing.







PIA Airbus A320 (AP-BLS) departed from Islamabad at 1:58 PM as flight PK-373 to Karachi with a delay of six hours. PK-373 was scheduled to depart at 8:00 AM.

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/pk373


Source: islamabadairport.com.pk

Abbas

[riz]

Have they ever considered doing an alcohol / drugs test on these Quota system products ?

[Abbas Ali]

Karachi, December 27, 2018 - PIA flights schedule were disturbed due its Airbus A320 aircraft grounded which was hit by boarding steps at Islamabad Airport.

PIA spokesperson said that PIA flight PK-373 for Karachi which was scheduled to depart at 8:00 AM was delayed and later departed at 1:30 PM by another aircraft. Consequently, PK-369 was delayed and departed at 7:00 PM. Passengers were informed accordingly on their provided contact numbers.

PIA regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers due to delay of flights. The operator of steps was suspended and an Inquiry of the incident has been ordered by the CEO, spokesperson concluded.

Source: PIA Press Release

[Abbas Ali]

PIA Islamabad to Karachi flight PK-369 was cancelled, according to Islamabad Airport and flightradar24.com. The flight was scheduled to depart at 1:00 PM from Islamabad.


Source: islamabadairport.com.pk


Source: flightradar24.com

Abbas

[faisal-777]

This is no mistake or coincidence
it looks like it's a part of some conspiracy brewing up. How can there be so many on ground incidents in last 6 months on Pakistani airport, always involving a particular airline.

[Tuti Fruiti]

It's way too many.. chances of deliberate looks likely as mentioned

[Abbas Ali]

Looks like another case of negligence and carelessness by PIA employees without fear of accountability.

Abbas

[Abdullah]

Same case here as like the boarding bridge collapse at IIAP. A third party contractor employee was operating the equipment, having very limited qualification & training. This is common in all such cases.

[KSKJADOON]

Absolutely diabolical. Cant say anymore ...............its very painful to see these recurrences.

[amjid84]

Same case here as like the boarding bridge collapse at IIAP. A third party contractor employee was operating the equipment, having very limited qualification & training. This is common in all such cases.

My question is why are they using Stairs, when the Airport is newly built and has 15 boarding bridges? Or are they still non-operatable due to the incident a few months ago?

Heads need to roll in this situation - there needs to be accountability. Re-training of staff and embedding a 'safety culture'.

[amjid84]

It's way too many.. chances of deliberate looks likely as mentioned

Agreed - one does not accidently hit the wing of an aircraft when removing the rear-stairs. Its more of a case of deliberate... If a 3rd party contractor, they need to be made accountable and billed accordingly for the damages. Aircraft arent cheap and given PK have limited resources (aircraft & cash), it has a flow-on affect which adds more delays to an already crippled airline.

[TAILWIND]

Damage looks serious, Left aileron and a bit of wing damaged. BLT not seen in air after this incident.
Incident if not deliberate, is sure shot criminal negligence, no excuses but the rotten PIA culture.