Pilot Refuses To Fly After Emergency Landing Because Shift Had Ended
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A pilot from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) allegedly refused to complete a journey after an emergency landing because their shift had ended.
It's safe to assume that most of us aren't a massive fan of working overtime, although, you'd think that can't possibly apply to a job like this.
PIA is the country's national air carrier and was scheduled to take off from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia for Islamabad on Sunday (16 January).
However, the PK-9754 was stuck at Dammam in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after emergency landing due to unexpected weather conditions.
As per The Express Tribune, the plane's captain didn't fancy re-starting the journey and claimed that his shift hours had finished.
After the strange turn of events, as one might expect, passengers began to get very agitated and protested to stay on the plane until it took off.
It was then believed that authorities at Dammam airport opted to call security to firm things up.
Hotel arrangements were then provided for the passengers who were forced to remain put.
A PIA spokesperson told the publication: "It is necessary for the pilots to take proper rest prior to flying for flight safety so arrangements were made in this regard."
LADbible have reached out to PIA for comment.
Last December, a plane full of unfortunate Brits ended up trapped on a British Airways flight for over five hours after the pilot received the unfortunate news that he'd tested positive for Covid-19.
The flight, which was bound for Barbados, ended up having to be grounded just before take-off after the pilot received the bad news whilst in the cockpit.
Among the passengers was Darcy Bourne, 20, a professional hockey player who plays for England, who chronicled the whole saga in a series of TikTok videos.
Darcy had boarded her flight from London at 9am and started to become agitated after the flight still hadn't taken off nearly two hours later.
After a considerable delay, the passengers were then informed that they could not leave the plane as the pilot had tested positive for coronavirus.
Darcy said: "Pilot just got a text saying he tested positive so we're all stuck on the plane.
The pilot can also be heard in the background of the video saying over the intercom: "What we're currently doing is looking for another pilot to take my place and that process is ongoing, but it's not going to happen quickly and at the moment we have got people in the process of trying to find someone."
Passengers were stuck in transit for over seventeen hours in the end.
British Airways said in a statement: "We apologised and thanked customers for their patience and understanding while our teams worked hard to replace a pilot at short notice so that they could continue their journey."
Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Travel, World News
