A PIA plane, carrying 276 passengers, escaped a disaster when one of its engines caught fire during flight from Karachi to Madinah on Saturday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Boeing 777 took off from Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport for Madinah but soon after, sources said, sparks started to fly out from one of the engines.

As soon as the fire alarm started ringing in the cockpit, the alert captain tried to douse the fire with a water bottle, which led to shutting down of the engine.

The captain swiftly established contact with air traffic controller at Karachi Airport and sought permission for emergency landing. Later, the pilot managed to land the plane safely at the Karachi Airport.

A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) team rushed to the runway as soon as the plane touched down.

Samples were obtained from plane’s captain and first officer for conducting alcohol, blood and urine tests.

A PIA spokesman later informed that the plane was called back to Karachi after fire warning in one of the engines.

The spokesman said the PIA engineers were inspecting the plane’s engine. So far, the engineers have not found any evidence of fire, he added.

The spokesman said as per standard operating procedure (SIO) the plane was landed with the help of one engine running.

He said the passengers have been shifted to a hotel. However, 15 passengers have declined to go to hotel, he added.

The PIA spokesman said an alternate flight will take the passengers to Madinah at 5:00 pm today.

Reporter Saeed Ahmad Saeed