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Pakistan International Airlines

English: Boeing 777-340ER - Pakistan Internati...
 
Pakistan International Airlines (Urdu: پاکستان انٹرنیشنل ایئر لائنز‎; generally known as PIA; or Pakistan International), is the national flag carrier and a state-owned enterprise of the Government of Pakistan.[3] Once regarded as Asia's best airline[citation needed] it is headquartered at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi [4] and operates scheduled services to 24 domestic destinations and 38 international destinations in 27 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.[5] Its main bases are at Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad/Rawalpindi.
The airline's secondary bases include Peshawar, Faisalabad, Quetta, Sialkot and Multan, from which it connects the metropolitan cities with the main bases, the Middle East, Europe, and the Far East. It is primarily owned by the Government of Pakistan and is regulated by the Ministry of Defence as an autonomous body. It employed 18,043 people as of May 2008

Incidents and accidents

Since it began services, seven Pakistan International Airlines flights have crashed. PIA has a record of 5.00 fatalities per million flights.[43]
 
  • On 18 May 1959, Vickers Viscount AP-AJC was damaged beyond economic repair on landing at Islamabad International Airport.[44]
  • On 14 August 1959, Vickers Viscount AP-AJE crashed at Karachi International Airport while attempting an overshoot with two engines inoperative on a training flight. Two of the three people on board were killed.[45]
  • PIA Flight 705 was a Boeing 720 that crashed while descending to land on Runway 34 at Cairo International Airport on 20 May 1965 resulting in 121 fatalities.
  • Flight 17 was a Sikorsky S-61 that crashed on 2 February 1966 on a scheduled domestic flight in East Pakistan with 23 killed and one survivor.
  • On 20 January 1978, a PIA plane (while at Karachi) carrying 22 passengers was hijacked by a gunman and asked to be flown to India. The then chairman of PIA, Air Marshal (Retd) Nur Khan boarded the plane to negotiate with the hijacker. He was hit by a bullet while trying to disarm the hijacker but still managed to overpower him.[46][47]
  • PIA Flight 740 was a Boeing 707-340C that crashed after takeoff from Jeddah International Airport on 26 November 1979. Flight PK740 departed Jeddah at 01:29 for a flight to Karachi.
  • PIA Flight 326 was hijacked on 2 March 1981 by three gunmen, and flown to Kabul. For almost two weeks, more than 100 passengers were held captive on the Boeing 720 until Pakistan released 55 prisoners. One passenger, Pakistani diplomat Tariq Rahim, was murdered during the ordeal.[48]
  • On 23 October 1986, a Fokker F-27 aircraft crashed during approach to Peshawar Airport. Of the 54 passengers and crew on board, 13 were killed in the accident.[49][50]
  • On 25 August 1989, a Fokker F-27 crashed into a mountain after taking off from Gilgit Airport. All 54 passengers and crew on board were killed.[51]
  • PIA Flight 268 was an Airbus A300B4-203, registration AP-BCP, which crashed on approach to Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport on 28 September 1992. All 167 on board were killed.
  • PIA Flight 544 was the flight number of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Fokker F27 that was hijacked on 25 May 1998. All passengers and crew escaped unhurt during the incident.
  • PIA Flight 688 was a Fokker F27 was scheduled to operate from Multan to Lahore and then to Islamabad. At 12:05pm on 10 July 2006, it crashed into a field[52] after bursting into flames a few minutes after takeoff[53] from Multan International Airport. All 41 passengers and four crew members on board were killed.
  • On 24 May 2013 Pakistan International Airlines flight PK709 en route from Lahore to Manchester was forced to make an emergency landing at London-Stansted because of an attempted hijack being carried out by two passengers on board the flight. The flight was only mintues away from landing in Manchester when the pilots reported that attempts had been made to enter the flight deck and threats had been made towards the cabin crew by two men on board the flight. The flight was then escorted to London Stansted by the RAF where Police and emergency vehicles were waiting to greet the flight. Both passengers were arrested by the Police and the flight was grounded in London for several hours while all the passengers were interviewed and forensic police officers could inspect the aircraft. All passengers on board the Boeing 777-300ER were safe and unharmed.[54]

 

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