An aircraft of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) averted a major crisis and landed after shortly after one of its engines caught fire mid-air.

PIA’s Boeing 777 took off from Karachi for Madina but only after a few minutes into the journey, sparks were seen in one of its engines.

Initially, the pilot attempted to control the fire by deploying the fire bottle attached to the engine. However, this led to the engine shutdown during the flight.

Fire bottles in engine compartments are usually electrically operated after manual selection by the flight crew after automatic fire detection.

Following an unsuccessful attempt to put out the fire, the pilot contacted the emergency landing service and asked for a return landing. After getting permission the plane returned to the Jinnah International Airport Karachi safely.

A spokesperson of PIA said that there were 276 passengers and the crew onboard. After the landing of the plane, a team of Civil Aviation Authority arrived for inspection.