A Qatar Airways Airbus A350 en route to Doha was forced to divert to Karachi after cargo hold smoke indication.
The A350 was performing a flight from Delhi to Doha as flight QR-579 when the occurrence forced it to divert to Karachi. The aircraft was met by emergency service in Karachi, and they found evidence of heat and fire in one of the containers.
In a statement, Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority’s spokesperson said:
“The pilot requested to make an emergency landing, and the control tower and CAA personnel responded immediately given the nature of the problem.”
Qatar Airways Airbus A350-900 (A7-ALZ, built 2018) on flight #QR579 (Delhi-Doha) made an emergency diversion to Karachi Intl AP (OPKC, Pakistan following a cargo smoke indication while in cruiseflight. After landing traces of scorching and heat damage were found. @MZulqarnainBut1 pic.twitter.com/WSShOrgi1s
— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) March 21, 2022
No injuries were reported, and the passengers disembarked the aircraft via mobile stairs and were bussed to the terminal. Passengers reached Doha on replacement flight QR3139 with a delay of about 9 hours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFEXZv3gwlU
“Qatar Airways flight QR579 from Delhi to Doha on March 21 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,” Qatar Airways said.
Photo Credit – Unknown
Video Credit – Unknown pic.twitter.com/Bc7zUhI5v1— M Zulqarnain B (@MZulqarnainBut1) March 21, 2022