Plane crashes in Pakistan with around 100 on board

[snoop1130]

Plane crashes in Pakistan with around 100 on board

By Syed Raza Hassan and Asif Shahzad

 

A plume of smoke is seen after the crash of a PIA aircraft in Karachi, Pakistan May 22, 2020. TWITTER/SHAHABNAFEES via REUTERS

 

KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane with around 100 passengers and crew crashed on Friday in a residential area of the southern city of Karachi, with many feared dead, officials said.

 

The state carrier said flight PK 8303 had crashed with 99 passengers and eight crew members on board, though civil aviation officials said the total for both may be 99.

 

"The last we heard from the pilot was that he has some technical problem," PIA spokesman Abdullah H. Khan said in a video statement. "It is a very tragic incident.

 

A senior civil aviation official told Reuters it appeared the plane was unable to open its wheels due to a technical fault prior to landing, but it was to early to determine the cause.

 

Geo TV broadcaster showed crowds near the scene, which appeared to be a densely populated area, and ambulances trying to make their way through.

 

Black smoke billowed and several cars were on fire.

 

The Pakistani army said its quick reaction force and paramilitary troops had reached the site for relief and rescue efforts alongside civil administration bodies.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-22

 

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[saakura]

Very sad to hear. Perhaps they were citizens being brought back from other countries, as the commercial flights are suspended i suppose. 

 

Edit : It was a Lahore to Karachi domestic flight. 

Edited May 22, 2020 by saakura

[Calach]

We finally resume usual disasters. 

[Thunder26]

With such a reduced air travel we still get this news?!  Really sorry for those people who lost their lives.

 

With such news I can never trust air travel. I always feel unsecure while flying,

[Cryingdick]

They could have at least mentioned what type of plane it was. If it was Boeing you can believe the title would be Boeing crashes. I dug around and it is an Airbus 320

[Darksidedude]

9 hours ago, Thunder26 said:

With such a reduced air travel we still get this news?!  Really sorry for those people who lost their lives.

 

With such news I can never trust air travel. I always feel unsecure while flying,

This airline has an appalling history, i flew with them from Karachi to Saudi Arabia in 2009, never again it was just one of those aircraft you think if ones gonna go down its this one, it was that old it still had the air earphones on the chair you know the non electronic earphones

[Farangdanny]

16 hours ago, saakura said:

Very sad to hear. Perhaps they were citizens being brought back from other countries, as the commercial flights are suspended i suppose. 

 

Edit : It was a Lahore to Karachi domestic flight. 

I think there will be more. All the planes sitting on the ground, not good for the plane. They need continual flying and servicing. Cobwebs !!!

[Almer]

It had a technical problem the wheels wouldn't come down, why land it on populated area, try a belly flop at the airport would seem a bit more sense, or as i assume more to the technical difficulty than has been reported.

[dabhand]

Amazingly there were two survivors, but possibility of local casualties. Some doubt as to whether gear or engine problems.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/23/pakistan-plane-crash-survivor-all-i-could-see-was-smoke-and-fire

[Burma Bill]

11 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

They could have at least mentioned what type of plane it was. If it was Boeing you can believe the title would be Boeing crashes. I dug around and it is an Airbus 320

yes, but to be precise:-

 

Pakistan International Airlines flight #PK8303 from Lahore has crashed during landing in Karachi. The aircraft involved is a 15 year old Airbus A320 with registration AP-BLD

[steve187]

it seems they lost engines 015 in clip

 

 

[AgMech Cowboy]

12 hours ago, Thunder26 said:

With such news I can never trust air travel. I always feel unsecure while flying,

You might feel "unsecure" or maybe insecure or maybe more secure on a PIA flight. They broadcast a prayer to Allah on the plane's PA before each takeoff. I think the 'security' issue will depend on your religious perspective. ???? 

 

RIP to those who perished. If any survived, I pray they will recover quickly and fully.

Edited May 23, 2020 by AgMech Cowboy

[tomazbodner]

According to Flight Radar, this was plane's second attempt to land. Some photos show that gear could not be lowered (unclear whether that was taken off first or second landing attempt). Also reported was electrical problem on the plane but that is curious as surviving passenger said everything was normal, he had no idea anything was wrong until the bang that knocked him out. Given his job title he probably travels a lot and would have noticed if electricity knocked out. Obviously, electricity is produced by engines and they did stop seconds before the crash as reported by the pilots.

 

It is rare for both engines to fail, though. Especially at the same time. They did not run out of fuel, as you can see from the intense fire and smoke after crash. So it could be fuel contamination... There were no flights for a couple of months... maybe contamination in the fuel tanks in plane?

 

In either way, it is a sad restart of the commercial flights. Hopefully causes found soon so further tragedies could be prevented.

[tomazbodner]

4 minutes ago, AgMech Cowboy said:

You might feel "unsecure" or maybe insecure or maybe more secure on a PIA flight. They broadcast a prayer to Allah on the plane's PA before each takeoff. I think the 'security' issue will depend on your religious perspective. ???? 

 

RIP to those who perished. If any survived, I pray they will recover quickly and fully.

Was taking Karachi-Lahore and back flights on PIA several times. Yes, the prayer instead of safety briefing was somewhat surprising. The don't bother with flotation jacket was explained by observing the "surface of Mars" view out the window the entire flight... Still, all flights but one were uneventful. One on Lahore to Karachi though... looked out the window and saw 5 or 6 technicians with flashlights looking into the engine and manually spinning the blades, knocking on them... then pilot walked out, and they had what looked like a pretty serious argument with hands waving and pointing... then they all left and we took off anyway. Throughout the flight the engine was giving lots of strange noises and vibrations which came and went. We landed in Karachi safely, and even before the plane door opened, I could see technicians around the engine, looking inside again... Not exactly something that would instill any sense of safety in flying with that airline. Then again, on many other flights, it was all routine.

 

Ah yes, just remembered... when I talked to Pakistani colleague who traveled with me and arranged that flight, he said "PIA has great pilots, all former military". In some research seen, it stated that in civil aviation military pilots are generally seen as prone to taking unnecessary risks, though far more sober thinking in times of crisis. That was read a decade or 2 ago, so it might be a challenge to provide any links.

[Old Croc]

25 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

According to Flight Radar, this was plane's second attempt to land. Some photos show that gear could not be lowered (unclear whether that was taken off first or second landing attempt). Also reported was electrical problem on the plane but that is curious as surviving passenger said everything was normal, he had no idea anything was wrong until the bang that knocked him out. Given his job title he probably travels a lot and would have noticed if electricity knocked out. Obviously, electricity is produced by engines and they did stop seconds before the crash as reported by the pilots.

 

It is rare for both engines to fail, though. Especially at the same time. They did not run out of fuel, as you can see from the intense fire and smoke after crash. So it could be fuel contamination... There were no flights for a couple of months... maybe contamination in the fuel tanks in plane?

 

In either way, it is a sad restart of the commercial flights. Hopefully causes found soon so further tragedies could be prevented.

One report I read said that on their first attempted landing the gear was up and the engines were damaged from impact with the strip. Somehow they got back into the air.

 

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by Old Croc

[RickBradford]

6 hours ago, Farangdanny said:

I think there will be more. All the planes sitting on the ground, not good for the plane. They need continual flying and servicing. Cobwebs !!!

Not just the planes, the pilots as well.

 

There is growing evidence that the plane initially came in steep and fast, couldn't get stable on the runway, decided to go around, pulled up the gear too early, smacked the engines on the runway, and after getting back into the air, the damaged engines quit.

[Oldie]

They don't need black boxes or time consuming expensive investigations. All they need to check are the comments here on ThaiVisa. It is that simple ????

[Darksidedude]

On 5/23/2020 at 9:29 AM, AgMech Cowboy said:

You might feel "unsecure" or maybe insecure or maybe more secure on a PIA flight. They broadcast a prayer to Allah on the plane's PA before each takeoff. I think the 'security' issue will depend on your religious perspective. ???? 

 

RIP to those who perished. If any survived, I pray they will recover quickly and fully.

i have been working in middle east country's for 12 years, first time i heard this prayer being played on the speakers before take off it put shivers down my spine, can never get used to it its like Inshallah god is great and all that bullocks if we crash.

[evadgib]

Seen today:

 

[DaRoadrunner]

On 5/23/2020 at 12:29 PM, AgMech Cowboy said:

You might feel "unsecure" or maybe insecure or maybe more secure on a PIA flight. They broadcast a prayer to Allah on the plane's PA before each takeoff. I think the 'security' issue will depend on your religious perspective. ???? 

PIA .... Please Inform Allah