Mouse-hunt in Karachi-Bound flight

Business class passengers of a PIA flight PK-258 were in a state of shock on Tuesday when they spotted a rat in the plane at Lahore Airport.
The flight was operating at Karachi-Doha-Lahore sector and had just landed at Lahore Airport and was getting ready to take off for Karachi.
The passengers raised hue and cry which created panic at Allama Iqbal International Airport forcing the PIA authorities to abandon the flight and move it to an isolated parking area.
A team of experts was summoned to find the rat in the A-310 bearing registration No AP-BDZ-A and fumigate the aircraft as the presence of rat is hazardous for the aircraft and passengers.
The sources said that after the fumigation, the plane has to be kept airtight for more than 24 hours to kill the rat. ‘The plane cannot take off till the time the rat is found as its presence in the aircraft is dangerous’, said a senior CAA officer seeking anonymity.
The said plane now is awaiting security clearance from PIA staff.
Till the filing of this report, a senior PIA officer informed this scribe that the rat was not found and plane was still parked at the airport.
He said that rats could enter the plane only through cargo, catering and hangers.
He said that presence of rat in airplane could result in a fatal accident as rat could cut the wires of a plane.