Pakistan's national airline PIA mocked on social media after images of a black goat being slaughtered on the tarmac next to an ATR-42 aircraft about to take off to ward off bad luck went viral
Huh? Pakistan Airlines staff sacrifice goat on runway before take off for safe flight
Pop star Junaid Jamshed was among 48 people killed when a small turboprop ATR 42 plane crashed into a hillside north of Islamabad on December 7, 2016, the latest episode in the country’s long history of aviation disasters. Pic/AFP
Pakistan's national airline has been mocked on social media after it emerged that some of its employees had sacrificed a black goat on the runway ahead of a flight to ward off bad luck.
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Seeking "divine intervention", staff of Pakistan's national carrier PIA sacrificed a black goat at the airport tarmac in Islamabad before an ATR-42 aircraft took off nearly a week after the French-built turboprop planes were grounded following a crash that killed 47 people.
"The officials sacrificed a goat on Sunday as a gesture of gratitude as the ATR aircraft resumed flight operations," a PIA official was quoted as saying by local media. The official, however, clarified that it was not a management-level decision.
Later, the plane left for Multan, making it the first ATR-42 aircraft to be pressed into service since the start of shakedown tests on all such aircraft in the wake of the air crash near Havelian on December 7 that killed all 47 people on board, including pop singer-turned-Islamic preacher Junaid Jamshed.
The pictures of the event showing PIA ground staff slaughtering a black goat next to an ATR-42 aircraft ready for departure went viral. Once it was established that the images were genuine and not photo-shopped, Twitterati ent into hypedrive and mocked the airlines for indulging in superstition.
PAKISTAN CRICKET LEGEND AND POLITICIAN IMRAN KHAN BLASTED THE AIRLINES
Shocking the depths we have fallen to. PIA was amongst the top airlines of the world & now it is slaughtering goats for safety of its planes
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) December 19, 2016
HERE'S HOW TWITTERATI REACTED TO THE NEWS:
Pakistan International Airlines goes for "Goat Sacrifice" before take-off to counter black-magic. Better pilot training could have helped. pic.twitter.com/gAp8VXZcaO
— Shahid Choudhary (@listenshahid) December 18, 2016
This is How Pakistan Airlines deals with 'Bhoot-Pret' before flight takes off.ðÂÂÂu00c2u009fÂÂÂu00c2u0098¨ 'Pagalon ki fauz ikathha ki hai'https://t.co/N2QnTGAZgW
— Shweta Bhattacharya (@spbhattacharya) December 19, 2016
@listenshahid @Vidyut This is unbelievable. Those pilots R endangering everyone in the air plus poor goat. Does this happen b4 every flight?
— LR (@lsrlinda) December 18, 2016
@listenshahid @ikaveri You goat to be kidding!
— Louvina Andrade (@LouvinaA) December 19, 2016
Pakistan airlines is the best and the most safest airlines in the world now. https://t.co/hXyIMi4wy3
— Keshav Joshi (@Keshav__Joshi) December 19, 2016
Emergency landing of #PIA ATR.
— AishaæÂÂÂu00c2u009d¥èÂÂÂu00c2u0087ªä¸åÂÂÂu00c2u009b½ (@Yixi_Arsalan) December 19, 2016
OMG, need another black goat? #Pakistan #Airlines
EVEN PAKISTAN DEFENCE DIDN'T SPARE THE AIRLINES
The world should learn from the PIA how to improve their flight safety. Sacrifice a black goat on the runway. pic.twitter.com/CcCbpFEmBI
— Pakistan Defence (@defencepk) December 18, 2016
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