Pakistan plane crash leaves 97 dead
KARACHI (AP) — When the plane jolted violently, Mohammad Zubair thought it was turbulence. Then, the pilot came on the intercom to warn that the landing could be “troublesome.”
Moments later, the Pakistan International Airlines flight crashed into a crowded neighborhood near Karachi’s international airport, killing at least 97 people, all of whom are believed to be passengers and crew members.
Zubair was one of just two surviving passengers.
Meeran Yousaf, the provincial Health Department spokesperson, said only 19 of the bodies from Friday’s crash have been identified and that most of the bodies were badly burned.
Three people on the ground were reportedly injured, and rescue crews were still sifting through the rubble yesterday.
The plane crashed near Jinnah International Airport, in the poor and congested residential area known as Model Colony. At least five houses were destroyed. Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Abdul Sattar Kokhar said the Airbus A320 was carrying 91 passengers and eight crew members. The only other survivor of the crash was Zafar Masood, a bank executive.
In a telephone interview from his hospital bed, Zubair, a mechanical engineer, said flight PK8303 had taken off on time from the eastern city of Lahore at 1 p.m.
It was a smooth, uneventful flight until the aircraft began its descent shortly before 3 p.m.
“Suddenly, the plane jerked violently, once and then again,” Zubair said.
The aircraft turned and the pilot’s voice came over the intercom. They were experiencing engine trouble and the landing could be “troublesome,” according to the pilot.
That was the last thing Zubair remembered until he woke up in a scene of chaos.
“I saw so much smoke and fire. I heard people crying, children crying,” he said.
Zubair crawled his way out of the smoke and rubble, and was eventually pulled from the ground and rushed into an ambulance.
A transmission of the pilot’s final exchange with air traffic control, posted on the website LiveATC.net, indicated he had failed to land and was circling to make another attempt.
“We are proceeding direct, sir – we have lost engine,” the 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.