Qatar Airways Delhi-Doha flight QR579 makes emergency landing at Karachi Airport

Qatar Airways Delhi-Doha flight QR579 made an emergency landing at Karachi Airport on Monday.

As being reported, the flight en-route to Doha from Delhi was diverted to Pakistan after smoke was detected in the cargo bay of the plane.

The flight was expected to land at Doha International Airport at 7.15 AM.

QR579 carrying 283 passengers and 12 crew members had departed from Delhi at 3.50 AM at its scheduled time, however, it landed in Karachi at 5.30 am after developing a technical fault.

Airport officials parked the plane on runway number one and shifted passengers to the transit lounge.

According to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman Saifur Rehman, a Doha-bound Qatar Airways flight from New Delhi made an emergency landing at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi after it reportedly developed a “technical fault.”

He said the pilot had declared an emergency after detection of smoke in the plane’s cargo hold.

Qatar Airways was operating an Airbus A350 on the route, in a statement said:

“Qatar Airways flight QR579 from Delhi to Doha on 21 March diverted to Karachi having declared an emergency due to the indication of smoke detected in the cargo hold. The aircraft landed safely at Karachi where it was met by emergency services and passengers disembarked orderly via stairs.”

“The incident is currently under investigation and a relief flight is being arranged to transport passengers onwards to Doha. We apologise for the inconvenience to our passengers who will be assisted with their onward travel plans,” they further added.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman confirmed that Qatar Airways had sent an alternative aircraft to take the 283 passengers to their destination at 1 pm local time.

The CAA spokesman said that  “all flight operations at the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, are normal”.