Shaheen Air plane flies with ‘tied, chained’ engine!

Airlines rejects report, says no faulty aircraft in its fleet

KARACHI: Shaheen Air allegedly risked lives of hundreds of passengers by operating a plane with faulty engine on a Manchester-bound flight from Islamabad, reports Geo News. 

Geo News received a picture from a responsible official of Shaheen Air that shows an engine part tied with the help wires and a chain. The picture is from the engine of Airbus A-330, having a capacity of 300 passengers, with a registration number APBML. On January 3, the plane operated a flight from Islamabad to Manchester, during which the captain reported a malfunction in engine’s fuel quantity indicator. Upon checking the engine, it turned out that an important part of it was tied with the help of metallic wires and a chain. The return flight was cancelled and the plane was grounded at Manchester airport for five days. The plane once again took off on a ferry flight to Lahore on January 8. During its flight to Lahore, the pilot was cautioned of suspension of engine’s fuel filter, at which point he cut that engine and operated the flight on a single engine.   Upon landing at Lahore Airport, the plane was grounded and it is still stationed at Bay 20 of the airport. Sources confided to the Geo News that officials found metal splinters, which meant some parts of the engine were torn. It was further revealed that the plane conducted several flights in the same condition, risking lives of tens of hundreds of passengers.  The CAA maintained silence when reached for a comment in this connection. The Shaheen Air rejected the claims, saying that the picture of engine is not from one of the planes in its fleet. They said it is wrong to link the faulty plane to the airlines.