Airbus team visits PIA plane crash site, begins probe
KARACHI — Authorities in Pakistan announced on Tuesday that Airbus experts have opened a probe into last week’s plane crash that killed 97 people when an Airbus A320 went down in a crowded neighbourhood near the airport in Karachi.
Initial reports have said the Pakistan International Airlines jet crashed after an apparent engine failure. Pakistani aviation authorities said on Tuesday they have shared their initial findings with the visiting 11-member team from the European plane maker.
“We are providing all possible assistance to the technical experts of Airbus,” Abdul Hafeez, a spokesman for PIA, said.
The Airbus team visited the site of the crash, Geo News reported. The technical team inspected the houses that were damaged in the crash. Relevant officers of the Civil Aviation Authority and PIA were summoned to the crash site.
The team was briefed about the crash by PIA and fire department officials. The Aircraft Accident and Investigation team was also present with the Airbus technical team. The experts studied the remains of the plane and inspected the engines, landing gear, wings and flight control system of the aircraft. The team later visited the Jinnah International Airport runway.
The Airbus experts were expected to take the aircraft’s black box recorder which contains the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder and any other evidence that would help with the investigation.
The team was expected to fly back to France on Tuesday night.
PM orders transparency
Meanwhile, a PIA spokesperson has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted complete transparency in the plane crash investigations and will not allow any group to influence the probe.
In a statement, he said the prime minister also wished to have compiled the investigation report in the shortest possible time and made the findings public.
The spokesperson said the prime minister believed the entire nation is in a state of shock and in such a situation, maneuvering to safeguard personal interests is tantamount to rubbing salt into the wounds of bereaved families. —