Pak air crash
veered off its flight path and descended rapidly into the Model Colony neighbourhood before crashing, as seen on video footage shared by a person who captured it using his cellphone.
As the plane crashed into a row of houses, it erupted into a fireball that may have killed residents of the area. “We are now focusing on rescue efforts so we don’t know the exact death toll,” said provincial minister of Sindh Nasir Shah. Shah said that at this stage it was difficult to determine who may have been on board the plane or who may have been a resident of the area. By 8pm, at least 40 people were confirmed dead.
In a purported recording of a conversation with the air traffic control (ATC), one of the pilots is heard saying he has lost both engines, before he issues a “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” distress message. The recording was uploaded on liveatc.net, which compiles recordings of conversations between pilots and ATCs across the world from aviation hobbyists who can listen in to these through particular kinds of radio sets.
Local TV stations reported that a few people sitting in the front row of the aircraft survived and showed video of a man on a stretcher they identified as Zafar Masood, the head of the Bank of Punjab. One of the other survivors, Muhammad Zuabir, was admitted to a local hospital with burn injuries. He told journalists that prior to crashing, the plane had made two approaches to land.
Thick smoke swirled out of the Model Colony neighbourhood. At least four houses were completely gutted and 20 damaged in the crash. Model Colony is located next to the Malir Cantonment area from where military personnel were quick to arrive to start rescue operations.
A spokesperson for the Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (PALPA) said the captain of the aircraft, Sajjad Gul, was one of the senior most pilots of the airline. Aviation experts surmised the crash may have taken place because the aircraft ran out of fuel on its second approach or had hit a bird. Civil aviation authorities told the media they had prepared for a belly landing, which also suggested the pilot may have jettisoned extra fuel prior to the second approach. PIA officials have ruled out the possibility that the plane was not safe to fly. “We are an international airline and we maintain international safety standards,” a spokesman for PIA told the media.