Last Sunday, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Airbus A320 operating a flight to Quetta suffered a bird strike, prompting a return to Islamabad.
At first, it was thought that the crew could continue, but as we detail in this piece, a u-turn was necessary.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
PK325 – Islamabad to Quetta…
PIA flight PK325 is a routine scheduled flight between Islamabad and Quetta.
The aircraft involved in the bird strike is registered as AP-BLB.
As per data from Planespotters.net, AP-BLB is a 19.9 year old Airbus A320 that first started out life with China Eastern Airlines in June 2004.
In July 2014, the aircraft was then passed over to PIA.
Furthermore, of the A320ceo variant, Pakistan International Airlines has 17 of them, of which all but four are in active service.
Average fleet age for the variant at the airline stands at 14.9 years.
PIA flight PK325 departed Islamabad at 1232 local time, around two and a half hours late for it’s flight to Quetta.
Upon reaching the Lakki Marwat area, the crew opted to turn back around to ISB amid reports of a bird strike.
Furthermore, reporting from The Aviation Herald states that the crew experienced no abnormal indications about damage.
However, after reaching a cruise altitude of 32,000 feet, the crew noticed an issue with one of it’s engines.
That is what prompted the u-turn back to Islamabad, with the flight to Quetta being delayed as a result.
Quick Repairs Applied…
Data from RadarBox shows that the aircraft wasn’t grounded for very long.
It states that the aircraft was on the ground for around 13 hours before being fixed.
From there, AP-BLB operated the PIA PK167 service to Gassim Airport from Islamabad.
For the affected passengers in the incident, it is understood that AP-BLZ was used as a replacement aircraft.
Since the incident, AP-BLB has been performing commercial flights normally.
It would appear that the damage wasn’t as extensive, which meant the maintenance time was quicker.
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