Foreign Plane Saved from Major Accident at Islamabad Airport

Islamabad Airport witnessed a serious situation when a foreign airline’s aircraft narrowly avoided a major accident during landing. The quick action of the air traffic controller played a key role in preventing the Islamabad Airport near-miss incident, which could have turned into a disaster. The aircraft belonged to a Saudi airline arriving from Jeddah.

According to Pakistan Airports Authority officials, the plane was mistakenly preparing to land on Runway 28 Left, which was officially closed for repair work. A NOTAM had already been issued informing all airlines that Runway 28 Left was closed and only Runway 28 Right was operational. Despite this, the pilot aligned the aircraft with the wrong runway during landing approach.

The air traffic controller immediately noticed the mistake and informed the pilot that he was approaching a closed runway. The pilot insisted that he was on the correct path, but the controller firmly instructed him to abort the landing and go for another approach. This timely communication prevented a potentially tragic outcome.

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During the first approach, a large number of workers and vehicles were present on Runway 28 Left due to ongoing repair work. A landing on that closed runway would have resulted in a severe accident as the aircraft was a Boeing 777 carrying hundreds of passengers on board.

In the second attempt, the pilot successfully landed on the correct runway, preventing the Islamabad Airport near-miss incident from becoming a disaster. Pakistan Airports Authority has taken official notice of the event and further investigation is underway.