A woman passenger, aboard a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight, sparked panic after she mistakenly opened the emergency exit door of the aircraft thinking it was the toilet.

The national carrier said the plane was on the runaway of the Manchester airport early Saturday when the woman pressed the button, opening the emergency exit door.

"The PIA flight, PK 702, from Manchester to Islamabad was delayed by seven hours. The departure was delayed on Friday night when a passenger erroneously opened the emergency exit causing the emergency chute to activate," said a PIA spokesperson.

After the incident, about 40 passengers were offloaded along with their luggage as per standard operating procedure.

The PIA said that the passengers were provided transportation and hotel accommodation and later on adjusted on other flight.

PIA chief executive Air Marshal Arshad Malik ordered an inquiry into the incident.

The national flag carrier has been running into losses for years and the government is trying to improve it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)