Seeking “divine intervention”, staff of Pakistan’s national carrier PIA sacrificed a black goat at the airport tarmac here 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 yesterday as a gesture of gratitude as the ATR aircraft resumed flight operations,” a PIA official was quoted as saying by local media.
The official clarified it was not a management-level decision. later, the plane left for Multan, making it first ATR-42 aircraft to be pressed into service since the start of shakedown tests on all such aircraft in wake of air crash near Havelian.