The pilot of the ill-fated Pakistan International Airlines flight that crashed today in Karachi indicated moments before the disaster that he was facing problems with the plane’s engines. The pilot communicated this to controllers at the Air Traffic Control at Karachi airport with whom he was in touch (an audio recording and a transcipt of the coversation can be found at the end of this story).
The Lahore-Karachi Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 had around 100 people, including crew onboard. The plane, an Airbus A320, crashed in a residential area just outside the Karachi airport moments before landing on Friday afternoon. Several are feared killed but official word on casualties is awaited.
According to snatches of pilot-ATC communication put out by Pakistani media, the plane reported some sort of engine trouble moments before the crash. The pilot told controllers at the Karachi airport ATC that he had “lost engine”.
Hearing this, the ATC controllers asked the pilot to confirm if he’s carrying out a “belly landing”, i.e. landing without the landing gear extended. After some moments, the pilot is heard putting out a mayday call, which is the highest-level of distress call.
The ATC responded to the pilot by saying “both” runways at the Karachi airport were available for him to land. How — if — the pilot responded is not heard in the reported audio clip of the conversation.
However, PIA CEO Air Vice Marshal Arshad Malik said in a video message that the pilot had chosen to “go-around”, aviation parlance for aborting a landing the last moment and circling the runway for another attempt. Further investigation is underway, Air Vice Marashal Arshad Malik said.
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