A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight bound from Islamabad to Toronto had to change its course back to Karachi after the captain noticed a technical problem while flying over Russia on Friday.
The Boeing 777, with 268 passengers on board, was supposed to depart from Islamabad International Airport at 2:15 pm on Friday but faced a delay of about one hour, as per flight information.
According to PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan, flight PK-781 was redirected to Karachi due to a minor technical issue. The decision to turn back the flight was made after it had been flying for four hours over Russia.
Khan clarified that although the issue was minor, the captain decided to return to Karachi instead of continuing the long journey across the Atlantic.
It’s worth noting that the aircraft, registered as AP-BGZ, had previously encountered a similar problem.
Returning to Karachi was considered advantageous due to better technical support and availability of spare parts,
Arrangements were being made at Jinnah International Airport Karachi to handle the flight, including accommodations for passengers at the airport hotel.
The flight to Toronto has been rescheduled to depart at 1 pm today (Saturday).
