LAHORE - PIA Sialkot-bound flight PK-396 was diverted to Lahore after being hit by lightning on early Saturday morning, sources in the airlines said.
However, all the 73 passengers on board remained safe. Sources said the lightning caused tripping in the navigational system of the aircraft, but the system was revived shortly after the failure and the pilot succeeded to land the plane at Allama Iqbal International Airport safely.
The sources said the flight was hit by lightning near Lahore an hour after taking off from Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport for Sialkot. They said the thunder could not cause a significant damage; however, the plane’s internal electronic system was partially disturbed. With presence of mind and outstanding expertise, the pilot controlled the unexpected situation.
After landing at Lahore Airport, the aircraft was thoroughly checked by the engineers for about 40 minutes. The flight was cleared to resume its journey at around 3:40 am after no fault was observed.
PK396 was scheduled to depart for Kuwait after picking up more passengers at Sialkot. However, the flight faced further delay due to bad weather.
When contacted, national flag carrier spokesman Syed Sultan Hassan said no such incident was happened. He was of the view that the flight was diverted to Lahore Airport only because of bad weather in Sialkot.