The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has issued show-cause notices to a pilot and two others officials for loading seven extra passengers on a Karachi-Madinah flight on Jan. 20, in a violation of air safety regulations, Dawn, a Pakistani daily said on Monday. A PIA spokesman, however, denied reports that seven extra passengers were forced to stand for the 3-hour flight from Karachi to Madinah in Saudi Arabia on Jan. 20. "It is not possible for anyone to travel like that in an aircraft, regardless of the duration of the flight," Danyal Gillani. A pilot and two other crew members were being disciplined, he said. "Strict action would be taken against anyone found at fault. PIA is committed to ensure the safety of the passengers and cannot allow any incident to happen which compromises safety," Gillani said. According to local media reports, Capt. Anwer Adil, senior purser (air hostess) Hina Turab, and terminal manager Akbar Ali Shah were issued notices for allegedly letting extra passengers travel on jump seats and the cockpit on PIA flight PK-743. The development came after an inquiry committee set up by the airline found the allegations to be true. "After in-depth investigation... it has been confirmed that passenger(s) travelled on (he) flight are over and above of the aircraft configuration (including jump seats) which is a clear violation of SOP (standard operating procedures) and violation of passenger safety," read a report signed by Manager Operations Sohail Jaffar Ali. As per SOPs in cases like these, the report said, the aircraft should be parked again to offload extra passengers "which was not done in this case". — Agencies
