PIA mocked for goat sacrifice

Pakistan's embattled national carrier has been widely mocked for sacrificing a goat next to a plane to ward off bad luck, weeks after one of the country's worst air disasters.

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) turboprop plane built by European manufacturer ATR plummeted into a mountain in a northern region on December 7, bursting into flames and killing all 47 people on board.

The animal slaughter, which took place on Sunday at Islamabad airport and was captured in a photograph which went viral, was met with derision by many social media users -- who said the carrier was forgoing safety standards in favour of superstition.

"This is no joke: #Pakistan invents a new safety measure for its crashing air carrier #PIA," tweeted user Asim Yousafzai.

Another user Rahoon Rashid said: "(Black goats) don't keep the planes up and flying, efficiency does". Leading newspaper Dawn ran a front-page story yesterday headlined "PIA: on a wing and a prayer".

The sacrifice was confirmed by PIA spokesman Danyal Gilani, who said it was a "gesture of gratitude" by some employees before the resumption of flights of the airline's ATR fleet. It was not sanctioned by management, Gilani said.