PIA flight delays by three hours
A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight was delayed for over three hours following a physical brawl between the pilot and a steward. London-bound flight PK-757 was ready for departure at 9 pm from Lahore on Saturday, when the pilot asked the other crew members to make a steward leave the aircraft, according to a source.
Local media reported the pilot Anwaar Chaudhry suddenly demanded the other crew members to make steward Awais Qureshi, whom he called a notorious smuggler, deboard the aircraft.
A brawl took place between the two after the pilot claimed Qureshi remained involved in incidents of smuggling during flight duty on previous occasions, which brought bad name to the airline.
The other crew members supported the pilot following the argument.
A source confirmed the passengers stood up and raised slogans against the PIA management after the flight got delayed by three hours.
The flight later departed at around midnight.
Confirming the incident, a PIA spokesperson on Sunday said an inquiry had been launched to ascertain facts.
He however, attributed the flight delay to the late arrival of another flight from Manchester.
