CAA unaware of Israeli nationals on emergency-landed flight

KARACHI – The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Thursday it was not aware of the reported presence of Israeli nationals on a flydubai flight that made an emergency landing in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi earlier this week.

Flydubai flight FZ-569 was en route to Colombo, Sri Lanka from Dubai when a woman aboard the plane fell ill, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing at the Jinnah International Airport on Wednesday.

Israeli newspaper, The Times of Israel, reported that the flight was carrying two Israeli citizens among the passengers, citing the Israeli foreign ministry. The ministry said it had “worked, together with others, to ensure the welfare” of the Israelis, the report added.

However, a CAA spokesperson, Saifullah Khan, stated that Pakistani authorities were unaware of the presence of Israeli nationals on the flight.

“The report about the flydubai flight 569 just mentioned that it was en route to Colombo from Dubai and the condition of some woman aboard worsened, landing at 11pm on Wednesday in Karachi,” Khan said.

“But she expired. Her body was sent to [Pakistani charity] Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation in Malir and the plane left at 3am on Thursday. It was not mentioned [in the report] how many passengers were aboard and what their nationalities were.”

The woman, who later died on the plane, was a Sri Lankan national, according to Khan. Her body was flown to Sri Lanka on another flight.

Pakistan does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.