Crash-landed Saudi aircraft reaches Hyderabad for training use

The Saudi aircraft that had crash-landed at the Karachi airport 13 years ago was transported on Wednesday from Karachi to Hyderabad via Thatta on a trailer truck. It took 12 hours for the truck to transport the plane.

The aircraft will be kept at the Pakistan Aviation Authority training institute, Hyderabad, for training purposes. The remaining parts of the aircraft will also be transported to Hyderabad soon.

According to officials of the Pakistan Aviation Authority (PAA), the trailer truck carrying the aircraft was sent from Karachi at 4am on Wednesday. The aircraft was divided into two parts to facilitate the transfer by road so that there was no traffic disruption during the journey.

The 40-ton MD-83 aircraft carrier trailer was sent from the Karachi airport and passed Malir, Steel Town, Bin Qasim Town, Gharo and Thatta from where it travelled continuously via Badin Road and Sarmast Road to reach Hyderabad at 4pm.

According to the PAA, the aircraft with a capacity of 172 passengers would now be used for training purposes at the institute.

Thirteen years ago, the plane, which was being used by a Saudi prince, developed a technical fault en route from Tabuk to Quetta.

The chartered aircraft MD-83 made an emergency landing at the Jinnah International Airport on December 25, 2011, after its nose wheel gear failed to deploy. After three attempts, the expert pilot safely landed the plane in Karachi without deploying the nose wheel gear, and the 72 servants and crew members of the Saudi prince remained safe. The 150-foot-long plane had since been inactive and parked at the Karachi airport for almost 13 years.