PIA plane crashes near Karachi airport

Ag Agencies

KARACHI: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Airbus A-320 aircraft with 99 people on board, according to chief executive Arshad Malik, crashed into a residential area just before landing here on Friday.

The PIA flight PK-8303, which originated from Lahore, was close to landing when it came down among houses, sparking an explosion and sending plumes of smoke into the air that could be seen from some distance away. According to rescue officials, more than a dozen houses were initially reported to be damaged and a number of people on the ground were killed.

Rescue workers and local residents pulled people from the debris, as firefighters tried to extinguish the flames. An AFP reporter witnessed charred bodies being loaded into ambulances.

Sarfraz Ahmed — a firefighter at the crash site — told AFP the nose of the Airbus A320 and the fuselage had been heavily damaged by the impact, adding that rescuers had pulled four bodies from the wrecked aircraft, including some who were still wearing seatbelts.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah declared an emergency at all of Karachi’s hospitals. Seemin Jamali, a director of the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre, said initially 17 bodies were brought to the hospital along with six injured people.

The number of casualties from the plane was yet to be determined. At least two passengers had survived the crash, according to Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, the information minister in Sindh. Bank of Punjab (BOP) chief executive Zafar Masud, is among the survivors, according to Geo News. He was said to be stable.

Residents near the scene said their walls shook before a big explosion erupted as the plane slammed into their neighbourhood. “I was coming from the mosque when I saw the plane tilting on one side. The engines’ sounds were quite weird. It was so low that the walls of my house were trembling,” said 14-year-old witness Hassan. Karachi resident Mudassar Ali said he “heard a big bang and woke up to people calling for the fire brigade”.

Prime Minister Imran Khan ordered an immediate inquiry into the crash, he said in a tweet. Subsequently, state media reported Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan ordering the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board to investigate the incident. PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez had earlier said there were seven crew on board the flight, which lost contact with air traffic control just after 2.30pm (0930 GMT).

Interior minister Ijaz Shah said the plane had developed a technical fault and that the pilot had said the craft had lost an engine and issued a mayday call. PIA chief executive Air Marshal Arshad Malik confirmed that the pilot, in his last words, had said there was a technical fault with the aircraft.

“The pilot was told that both runways were ready for him to land. However, the pilot decided to do a go-around. Why he did that, due to what technical reason, that we will find out,” he said, before hopping on a plane to Karachi.

Abdul Sattar Khokhar, a spokesman for the Aviation Division, said the Airbus A320 was travelling from Lahore to Karachi.

The Army said security forces had been deployed to the area and helicopters were being used to survey the damage and help ongoing rescue operations, while offering condolences over the “loss of precious lives” in the incident.

The disaster comes as Pakistanis across the country are preparing to celebrate the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Eidul Fitr, with many travelling back to their homes in cities and villages.

Commercial flights resumed only days ago, after planes were grounded during a lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic. Pakistan has a chequered aviation safety record, with frequent plane and helicopter crashes over the years.

In 2016, a Pakistan International Airlines plane burst into flames after one of its two turboprop engines failed while flying from the remote north to Islamabad, killing more than 40 people.

The deadliest air disaster on Pakistani soil was in 2010, when an Airbus A321 operated by private airline Airblue and flying from Karachi crashed into the hills outside Islamabad as it came into land, killing all 152 people on board. PIA, one of the world’s leading airlines until the 1970s, now suffers from a sinking reputation due to frequent cancellations, delays and financial troubles. It has been involved in numerous controversies over the years, including the jailing of a drunk pilot in Britain in 2013.