‘Pilots of crashed Pakistan plane were discussing coronavirus’

THE PIA FLIGHT CRASH LAST MONTH KILLED 97 PEOPLE AFTER THE JET HIT THE RUNWAY A KILOMETRE SHORT

ISLAMABAD: The pilots of a Pakistan airliner that crashed last month, killing 97, were distracted and preoccupied as they talked about the coronavirus pandemic while preparing for an initial failed attempt to land, the country’s aviation minister said on Wednesday.

The Airbus A320 of national carrier Pakistan International Airlines crashed on May 22 in Karachi, killing all but two of those aboard as it came down a kilometre short of the runway.

The engines of the aircraft had touched the ground as it landed without its wheels down on the first attempt, before taking off again, minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told parliament as he presented an initial report on the disaster. The flight data showed the landing gear was lowered at 10 nautical miles,

Khan said, but then raised again 5 nautical miles from the runway, which he described as “beyond comprehension”.

The aircraft was “100% fit to fly” and there was no technical fault, he said, but added that the pilots were not “focused” because of the pandemic. “The discussion throughout was about corona,” Khan said, referring to exchanges between the pilots he said he had listened to on the cockpit voice recorder. “Corona was dominant over their mind. Their family was affected.”

“Several warnings and alerts such as over-speed, landing gear not down and ground proximity alerts, were disregarded,” it added. “The landing was undertaken with landing gear retracted. The aircraft touched the runway surface on its

engines.”