A routine Toronto-bound flight was forced to cut its journey short last week after the aircraft began experiencing hydraulic issues mid-flight. 

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Boeing 777-200LR, operating as flight PK781, took off from Islamabad International Airport in Pakistan on Friday, May 17 at approximately 3:22 p.m. local time. 

According to Aviation Source News, the flight initially went about its normal route and climbed north to Toronto, but quickly made a U-turn over Russia and proceeded back to Pakistan. 

The Aviation Herald reported that the aircraft was experiencing issues with its hydraulics, which were described as "minor" in nature. From there, the aircraft was diverted to Karachi and proceeded to land safely at Jinnah International Airport at 1:18 a.m. local time, roughly nine hours after takeoff. 

#INCIDENT | Yesterday, a PIA Boeing 777 bound for Toronto from Islamabad made a u-turn over Russia and diverted to Karachi due to hydraulic issues onboard.

Read more at AviationSource!https://t.co/hMfJ9ACDwz@RadarBoxCom#PIA #Karachi #Islamabad #Toronto #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/EptrcvsGst

— AviationSource (@AvSourceNews) May 18, 2024

Luckily, there were no reported injuries, and the aircraft remained on the ground overnight. 

Back in March, an air hostess with the national flag carrier was detained by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) at Pearson Airport for allegedly carrying counterfeit port stamps in a suitcase, following a sea of disappearances involving the airline's flight crew in Canada. 

The list of missing PIA staff members in Canada has brought into question the airline's job security, standards for employees, as well as the necessary prevention measures needed to deter similar cases from happening.