PIA jet with 160 on board fired upon in Karachi

A Pakistani passenger jet, carrying around 160 people, was fired upon just as it was about to land in Karachi but the pilot managed to land the aircraft safely, averting a major tragedy.

According to officials, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Multan to Karachi, was cruising in to land at the Karachi airport on Saturday night when it was fired upon while passing over the Malir area which is close to the airport.

"The pilot realising the situation displayed lot of courage and sense to land the aircraft safely but obviously the incident has caused lot of concern in the aviation industry," one CAA official said.

Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA) and police are investigating the firing incident on Saturday night.

Police said they were investigating and trying to find the exact location from where the airplane was fired upon.

In November, Karachi witnessed two big aircraft crashes both near the airport soon after the planes took off.

In the first incident, a chartered aircraft crashed close to the airport killing all 21 people on board while in the second incident a Russian made cargo plane turned into a fireball soon after taking off and crashed into a nearby residential area killing all eight members of the crew on board and four labourers who were working on an under construction site.