After smoke was detected in the cargo hold of a Qatar Airways flight intended to convey passengers from India to Qatar, the airplane was diverted to Karachi, Pakistan.
Qatar Airways Airbus A350-900 aircraft, registration A7-ALZ, was planned to fly passenger flight QR579 between Delhi, India, and Doha, Qatar, on March 21, 2022.
The plane took a departure from Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) at 04.13 a.m. (UTC) and was anticipated to land at Hamad International Airport (DOH) three hours later, according to flight data recorded by Flightradar24.com.
However, a smoke alarm went out when the plane flew above Khuzdar, in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province, indicating that there was smoke in the cargo hold.
“Flight QR579-Delhi to Doha diverted to Karachi (KHI) due to smoke detected in the cargo hold. The aircraft landed safely, passengers disembarked normally, and were served breakfast,” the carrier said in a statement.
The flight crew declared an emergency and opted to land at the closest airfield. Qatar Airways issued a brief statement following the event, reporting that the plane had safely landed at Jinnah International Airport (KHI) in Karachi at roughly 05.30 a.m. (UTC), where it was received by local emergency personnel.
The airline apologized for the inconvenience caused by the incident, revealing that passengers were able to continue with the journey on the same day via a “relief flight”.
In the year 2022, this is the first incident involving a Qatar Airways Airbus A350 passenger airliner.
