Pakistan recovers crucial flight-data recorder of crashed Airbus
Pakistani officials said Saturday that they retrieved the flight-data recorder of the Airbus SE A320 jet that crashed into a residential neighborhood of Karachi on Friday, killing all but two people on board.
The search is still on for the voice recorder, said Abdul Sattar Khokhar, spokesman of the Civil Aviation Authority. The two recorders make up the so-called black box and store details of a plane’s path as well as its mechanical systems and computers.
Analysis of the devices may give investigators clues to why Flight PK 8303 decided to go around for a second approach. The pilot also reported losing power from both engines before the crash, which killed 97 travelers aboard the state-run Pakistan International Airlines Corp. aircraft en route from the northern city of Lahore.
“There was fire everywhere, and everyone was screaming after the crash. I opened my seat belt, and headed toward the light,” Muhammad Zubair, who was sitting in the eighth row, said on a local television broadcast.
Pakistan has set up a four-member panel, which will submit its report on the disaster in three months, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said in a televised briefing on Saturday.
The crash happened as the nation began celebrating the Muslim festival Eid ul-Fitr. It also resulted in injuries on the ground.
About 25 houses that were damaged have been cleared, and their residents have been sheltered at various places, the Pakistani army’s media wing said on Twitter.
Television footage showed cars and homes on fire in the neighborhood near the airport in the nation’s commercial hub. The A320 narrow-body jet first entered service in 2004 and was operated by PIA since 2014, Airbus said.
The pilots in Friday’s crash reported losing power in both engines, according to a recording from LiveATC.net, which collects audio feeds from air traffic controllers.
“Sir, we have lost engines,” the pilot said to a controller, according to the LiveATC recording. A distressed call followed about 30 seconds later: “Mayday. Mayday. Mayday.”