Turbulence, warnings ahead of fatal plane crash in Pakistan

KARACHI, Pakistan — 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 97 people, all of whom are believed to be passengers and crew members. Zubair was one of two surviving passengers.

Meeran Yousaf, the provincial Health Department spokeswoman, said 21 bodies from Friday’s crash have been identified and that most of the bodies were badly burned. Eight people on the ground were injured. Three remained hospitalized and all residents are accounted for, she said.

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 near Karachi shortly before 3 p.m.

He said the aircraft made three attempts to land, once seeming to almost land and then take off again.

“Suddenly the plane jerked violently, once and then again,” said Zubair. The aircraft turned and the pilot’s voice came over the intercom. They were experiencing engine trouble and the landing could be “troublesome,” the pilot said. That was the last thing Zubair remembered until he woke up in a scene of chaos.

He crawled his way out of the rubble, and was eventually rushed into an ambulance.

RIZWAN TABASSUM/GETTY-AFP Troops carry the coffin of Pakistani Army Maj. Shaheryar Baloch during his funeral Saturday. Baloch was one of 97 people killed after a plane crashed Friday in Karachi.