Pak jet with 99 crashes minutes before landing into Karachi residential area

KARACHI: A Pakistan International Airlines Airbus jet with 99 people aboard crashed into a crowded residential district of the city of Karachi on Friday afternoon while approaching the airport.

At least 60 people were confirmed to have died, hospital officials told Reuters, though other officials gave different figures and authorities did not release an estimate of casualties on the ground.

Two passengers survived, including Zafar Masood, president of the Bank of Punjab, a Sindh provincial government spokesman said. The bank said he had suffered fractures but was “conscious and responding well.”

The other survivor, engineer Muhammad Zubair, told Geo News the pilot came down for one landing, briefly touched down, then took off again.

After around 10 more minutes of flying, the pilot announced to passengers he was going to go around for a second go, then crashed as he approached the runway, Zubair said from his bed in Civil Hospital Karachi.

“All I could see around was smoke and fire,” he added. “I could hear screams from all directions. Kids and adults. All I could see was fire. I couldn’t see any people — just hear their screams.

“I opened my seat belt and saw some light — I went towards the light. I had to jump down about 10 feet to get to safety.” Smoke billowed from the scene where flight PK 8303 came down at about 2:45pm. Twisted fuselage lay in the rubble of multi-storey buildings as ambulances rushed through chaotic crowds.

As the news broke, many including world leaders took to social media and mourned the tragic incident.

Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted: “Shocked & saddened by the PIA crash ... Immediate inquiry will be instituted. Prayers & condolences go to families of the deceased.”

“The news from Pakistan this morning is devastating,” wrote Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, adding that Canadians were keeping Pakistanis in their thoughts. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also offered condolences. Russian President Vladimir Putin also offered condolences over the crash.

The crash happened on the eve of the Muslim festival of Eid, when Pakistanis travel to visit relatives.

“The aeroplane first hit a mobile tower and crashed over houses,” witness Shakeel Ahmed said near the site, a few kilometres short of the airport.

The Airbus A320 was flying from the eastern city of Lahore to Karachi in the south with 91 passengers and eight crew, civil aviation authorities said, just as Pakistan was resuming domestic flights in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

A total of 56 bodies were brought to JPMC hospital and the Civil Hospital Karachi, officials from both institutions said. The airline’s chief executive, Arshad Malik, told reporters he knew of 41 confirmed deaths.

Seconds before the crash, the pilot told air traffic controllers he had lost power from both engines, according to a recording posted on liveatc.net, a widely respected aviation monitoring website.

“We are returning back, sir, we have lost engines,” a man was heard saying in a recording released by the website. The controller freed up both the airport’s runways but moments later the man called “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!”.

There was no further communication from the plane, according to the tape, which could not immediately be authenticated. “The last we heard from the pilot was that he has some technical problem ... It is a very tragic incident,” said the state carrier’s spokesman, Abdullah H. Khan.

Initial reports suggested that all 99 passengers, including cabin crew, may have died in the crash. However after rescue operations gained momentum, some people did manage to survive the crash. However, the actual numbers of fatalities is not yet confirmed.

Eyewitnesses say that the plane crashed on two houses while at least seven other houses have also been badly damaged. A rescue operation has been launched as dead bodies along with the injured are being taken to the hospitals.

“Till now, at least 17 dead bodies have been brought to the Jinnah hospital while at least 4 are being shifted to Civil hospital as we have run out of our capacity,” said Dr Seemi Jamali, Executive Director of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

The recognition of the dead has become impossible as per an immense degree of burns, due to which the DNA collection will be processed to identify the deceased.

Reason for the crash will be ascertained after the inquiry is done and information from the black box, recovered from the crash site is extracted.

However, it is being speculated that technical issue, as stated by the pilot also, was due to the landing gear that failed to open at the time of landing. Other speculation is of multiple bird hits that caused the plane to crash less than a minute away from the runway.

Another senior civil aviation official told Reuters it appeared the plane had been unable to lower its undercarriage for the first approach due to a technical fault, but it was too early to determine the cause.

The crashing of a passenger plane in a residential area of Karachi is a shocking and tragic incident, which has happened when the world is already facing turbulent times owing to COVID-19.

The tragedy has occurred at a time when Pakistanis across the country are preparing to celebrate the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan, with many travelling back to their homes in cities and villages.

Pakistan had resumed domestic flights just earlier this week ahead of the Eid Al Fitr holidays.

The country has been on a lockdown since mid-march to try to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Compounding the despair, five or six houses were also destroyed in the crash of the domestic flight operated by Pakistan International Airlines, after what appeared to be an engine failure during landing.

The initial indication is that there have been one or a few survivors.

Local TV stations reported that three people sitting in the front row of the aircraft survived and aired footage of a man on a stretcher they identified as Zafar Masood, the head of the Bank of Punjab.

They reported that at least 11 bodies were recovered from the crash site and six people were injured.

As per witnesses quoted by news agencies, the Airbus A320 appeared to attempt to land two or three times before crashing in a residential area near Jinnah International Airport.

The residential area on the edge of the airport, known as Model Colony, is poor and heavily congested.

A resident of the area, Abdul Rahman, stated that he saw the aircraft circle at least three times, appearing to try to land before it crashed into several houses.

Video circulated on social media appeared to show the aircraft flying low over a residential area with flames shooting from one of its engines.

Attempts to avoid crowding during the times of pandemic also proved to be a challenge for the authorities.

Police wearing protective masks had to struggle to clear away crowds to allow a firetruck and an ambulance to move through the narrow streets towards the crash site, the air filled with dust and smoke.

A transmission of the pilot’s final exchange with air traffic control, posted on the website Liveatc.net, indicated the heartbreaking situation and that he had failed to land and was circling around to make another attempt.

“We are proceeding direct, sir - we have lost engine,” a pilot said.

“Confirm your attempt on belly,” the air traffic controller said, offering a runway.

“Sir — Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, Mayday Pakistan 8303,” the pilot said before the transmission ended.

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s tweet reflects the anguish of the entire nation and the world over the sad incident: “Shocked & saddened by the PIA crash. Am in touch with PIA CEO Arshad Malik, who has left for Karachi & with the rescue & relief teams on ground as this is the priority right now. Immediate inquiry will be instituted. Prayers & condolences go to families of the deceased.”

In 2016, a Pakistan International Airlines plane burst into flames after one of its two turboprop engines failed while flying from a remote northern to Islamabad, killing more than 40 people.

The deadly crash necessitates a thorough re-think about airline procedures. The goal of the investigations should be to make recommendations to aviation authorities to prevent similar incidents from happening again.