(Image source from: indianexpress.com)

With the looming fear of the pandemic, Friday came out as an event more tragic day when a Pakistani International Flight crash landed in a residential area, just 3.2 kms away from the Jinnah International Airport.

The plane was carrying 99 passengers and 8 in-flight crew, all of whom were returning from various parts for Eid Al Fitr holidays. The PIA flight PK8303 crashed into a residential area in Karachi. Out of the passengers, reports suggest that 3 of them survived the crash miraculously.

Majority of the photos and videos that have surfaced showcase the crash site and showed how the smoke and bodies were covered in debris while the rescue team work relentlessly to search for the survivors amidst the crash.

What actually happened?

On May 22, 2020, the flight PK8303 was en route from Lahore when it crashed around 3.2 kms away from the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi just a minutes before landing. The plane was an A320 Airbus, which is touted as one of the safest flights in the world.

PIA chief executive Air Marshal Arshad Malik reported that the pilot of the flight reported of technical difficulties and decided to go around instead of landing, even when two runways were available.

In one of the retrieved conversations, the pilot can even be heard saying, “We have lost engines. Mayday, mayday, mayday. It is very serious” to the airport traffic control.

What are the expert opinions and theories?

There are a number of theories available at the moment from experts concerning the crash.

Fahad ibne Masood, who is an aircraft accident investigator for the last two decades said to Gulf News that if the reports and the stats reported to PIA is to be considered, it is likely that the aircraft faced a gear malfunction which is the reason why it couldn’t land and attempted for a go around instead to make the second landing effort.

Masood further said that the possibility of a double engine failure at this point is extremely unlikely.

“The audio of the pilot revealed that they lost both engines. In this case, the engines perhaps did not have power to ascend and the flight was forced to come down touching the rooftops of the building since the airport is located in a populated area,” Masood further exclaimed.

Along with the government representatives, PIA, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), ICAO, Airbus will also undertake the investigation to ensure maximum safety and the accurate reasoning behind the crash.

Was it a landing gear fault?

Noor Abbas Mirza, an aviation expert reported that it is completely tragic at this point that the accident happened with one of the safest airplanes and with some of the highly skilled PIA pilots and crew.

The experts conclude that since the airplane flight crew reported the emergency related to the landing gears and attempted to go around the airport during which the engines of the flight likely experienced bird strikes which could be a technical issue or a human error.

Was the checklist followed?

According to the reports stated by Mohammad Bilal Qureshi, aviation analyst and co-founder of Plane Spotters Pakistan to Gulf News was the fact that the flight was just a mile away from the runway when the landing attempt failed. It tried to stall consistently following which it crashed to the buildings.

According to Qureshi, the problem arose when the crew decided to go around. In one of the photos taken by the member just a few minutes before the crash show black shade and smoke under the engines which insinuate the fact that both the engines caught fire, following which the plane crashed.

“Pilots did not perform the checklist on their first attempt of landing and engine might have struck the runway and by the time crew realised and decided to go around for another approach, the engine caught fire. But it is yet to be confirmed by the investigation team,” said Qureshi.

Majority of the airports in Pakistan, except for the Islamabad International Airport have residential areas around it, which is what leads to more of the bird strikes and activities.

The experts have also asked the CAA and the concerned authorities to address the issues to further ensure safety for everyone involved.

By Somapika Dutta