Three pulled out ALIVE as plane crashes into houses

Cyril Dixon

AT LEAST three passengers miraculously survived when a plane crashed into a Pakistani neighbourhood yesterday.

Eighty-nine travellers and eight crew are thought to have died when the aircraft plunged into the Karachi suburb.

Many more were feared to have perished on the ground after the Airbus 320 hit a mobile mast before crashing into the Model Colony district.

Witnesses said the aircraft was so low they felt the walls of their houses tremble.

Footage showed scenes of burning rubble and plane debris strewn across the area.

A teacher working nearby said she heard a “huge crash”, adding: “I saw smoke rising from the next street.”

But Zafar Masud, president of the Bank of Punjab, was well enough to tell rescuers: “Thank you so much. God has been merciful.”

Health officials said the other survivors, Mohammed Zubair and Tahira Mahmoud, were also in hospital last night, but recovering and 9.40am following a 95-minute journey from Lahore.

The flight was a special service for travellers flying home after the Covid-19 lockdown. Media broadcast what appeared to be a recording of the pilot telling controllers: “We are returning back, sir, we have lost engines” before seconds later: “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday”. Civil aviation officials believe the plane may have been unable to open its wheels as it came in to land.

It is understood to be 15 years old and passed a government safety check last November and an inspection by the airline’s chief engineer three weeks ago.

Residents look on in horror at burning wreck of the plane identifying badly burned victims was proving difficult in the built-up area. Pakistani International Airlines flight PK 8303 was preparing to land when the pilot reported technical difficulties before losing contact with air traffic control on its approach to Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport at

A young child is carried to safety from the crash