Is this plane Russian or Saudi?

December 25, 2011 - Karachi, Pakistan - There seems to be some media confusion about the nationality of an airplane that "crash landed" at Karachi's Jinna International Airport today. Some are saying it's from Russia, others say it's from Saudi Arabia.

"A Saudi chartered plane MD 83, with 72 people on board having a nose wheel problem made a safe landing at Karachi Airport on Sunday," reports the Associated Press of Pakistan. That report went on to say that "the plane was heading from Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, to Quetta."

The News Tribe, however, reports this: "A Russian Airline flight from Tabuk to Quetta made an emergency landing at Jinnah International Airport Karachi on Sunday morning due to mechanical problems." The plane, says News Tribe, "had 72 passengers on-board including crew."

Jinna Airport, Karachi (image via Wikipedia)Could it be coincidence that two planes, one Russian and one Saudi, with the same number of passengers and traveling from and to the same cities, would both make a safe emergency landing in Karachi on the same day?   I seriously doubt that. This was one plane, but somehow different news outlets are reporting that it's Saudi while others say it's Russian. How is that possible?

TheNews.com has a story today, "Saudi private airline plane's safe emergency landing," about - get this - a plane on its way from (you guessed it) Tabuk to Quetta. Guess how many people were on board. Yep, 72.

GeoNewsZone.com, however, says that "A Russian plane landed in Karachi because its wheels were not unfolding. The pilot informed the control room on Sunday."

Judging from late updates, it would seem that the plane is actually Saudi and that initial reports that it was Russian were in error. Some of the media are a little slow to correct mistakes. Several have, but many are still reporting that the plane was Russian.