Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has launched an investigation after one of its flights, PK 306, landed at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport without a rear wheel, raising concerns over aviation safety.
The issue came to light during a routine post-landing inspection when it was discovered that one of the plane’s rear tires was missing. According to sources, the tire was intact when the flight took off from Karachi, and the aircraft completed a normal landing and taxiing process in Lahore. However, after receiving a notification from Lahore’s Air Traffic Control (ATC), a part of the tire shaft was later located at Karachi airport.
Despite over 14 hours passing since the flight’s arrival, the missing tire has not been located at either Karachi or Lahore airports, raising further questions about where and how the wheel became detached.
In a statement, a spokesperson for PIA confirmed the incident, stating that the airline’s Flight Safety Department, in collaboration with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), had initiated an investigation to determine the cause. Initial observations suggest that the wheel might have been damaged by an external object on the runway during takeoff from Karachi.
The spokesperson reassured the public, stating that the aircraft’s landing was smooth and that the design of the plane is such that even without a wheel, aviation safety was not compromised.
While the final report is still pending, officials are exploring various factors, including runway conditions, as potential causes of the wheel’s detachment. A PIA team has been dispatched to Lahore to examine the incident further, while safety and aviation authorities have also commenced their own inquiries.
