The plane registered as AP-BGJ was on a flight numbered PK9759 taking travellers from Lahore in Pakistan to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia at the time of the occurrence of the incident. It is to be noted that this is not the first time this jet has suffered the problem of a cracked windshield.

Before the emergency landing in Karachi, the PIA aircraft was destined to land in Jeddah with 350 flyers onboard. At 08:03 local time, the plane took off and climbed to a cruising altitude of FL320. The trip to cruising altitude took about 20 minutes.

The crew decided to divert to Karachi after witnessing a shattered windshield during the aircraft's takeoff and rise. The windscreen of the First Officer was fractured, according to the Aviation Herald. After descending to FL140 and flying for another 85 minutes or so, the plane arrived in Karachi at around 10:25 local time and landed safely on runway 25L. ■