Pakistan Airline Issued An Apology After Leaving Two Corpses Behind

Pakistan International Airlines issued an apology Wednesday after leaving behind two corpse-filled coffins. The coffins were intended to be flown to Lahore, Pakistan, on Saturday, but they were mistakenly forgotten at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

The incident occurred on PIA's final New York-Lahore flight. The route was suspended due to financial losses, which means passengers would have to fly into London and take Etihad Airlines.

PIA said Wednesday it "regrets the inconvenience caused due to negligence on part of the airline's ground handling agency...and expresses its sympathies with the family members of the deceased persons," according to BBC News.

The airline also placed blame on its ground-handling staff. Relatives of one of the dead men, Nauman Badar, had asked for his body to be buried in Maryland. The family of the second dead man, Nasir Ali, had his body transported back to Lahore by Etihad Airlines.

All expenses will be covered by PIA as it continues to oversee the transfer operations of the corpse-filled coffins. The oversight was ordered by PIA Chairman Musharraf Rasool Cyan, Channel NewsAsia reported Wednesday.

PIA is no stranger to controversy. In April, a pilot was caught taking a nap in business class on a flight to London. In May, Pakistani officials found 20 kilograms of heroin on a flight after reports of three similar incidents in 2016. The airline also came under fire for slaughtering a goat on a Pakistani airport tarmac in December 2016.

PIA reportedly loses more than $340 million annually. The Pakistan government has looked to lawmakers for support in shutting down the seemingly "bankrupt" airline.

"Such a recommendation from a parliamentary committee will help the government take the difficult decision that it is otherwise hesitating to take," Sardar Mehtab Abbasi, the Pakistan Prime Minister's adviser on aviation, said of PIA in May before a Senate Special Committee hearing. "We are trying to restructure PIA, but it is an extremely difficult task."

A representative of Pakistan International Airline did not immediately return International Business Times' request for comment.