Pakistan International Airlines' Boeing aircraft makes emergency landing in Karachi due to cracked windshield

Pakistan's national carrier PIA's Boeing 777-200ER was forced to make a emergency landing in Karachi while flying from Lahore to Jeddah because of a crack in the windshield.

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Pakistan International Airlines' (PIA) Boeing 777-200ER had to be diverted to Karachi for a safe landing after it suffered a cracked windshield because of a bird strike. The plane registered as AP-BGJ was on a flight numbered PK9759 taking travellers from Lahore in Pakistan to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia at the time of the occurrence of the incident. It is to be noted that this is not the first time this jet has suffered the problem of a cracked windshield.

Before the emergency landing in Karachi, the PIA aircraft was destined to land in Jeddah with 350 flyers onboard. At 08:03 local time, the plane took off and climbed to a cruising altitude of FL320. The trip to cruising altitude took about 20 minutes.

The crew decided to divert to Karachi after witnessing a shattered windshield during the aircraft's takeoff and rise. The windscreen of the First Officer was fractured, according to the Aviation Herald. After descending to FL140 and flying for another 85 minutes or so, the plane arrived in Karachi at around 10:25 local time and landed safely on runway 25L.

The airline then disclosed that the crew was forced to divert due to a bird strike that damaged the windshield.

The Boeing 777-200ER registered AP-BGJ was delivered to PIA in 2004 and has been part of the airline for 18 years now. Earlier, back in 2012, it suffered a similar incident of bird strike while flying from Karachi to Lahore. Similarly, in 2016 it was a victim of a bird strike flying from Jeddah to Lahore.

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