The Reuters reports the crash of a PK 8303 flight. The flight came down, some roofs were caved in, and debris lay scattered in streets as ambulances rushed through chaotic crowds of people.
Karachi mayor says he does not expect survivors from crashed plane
“The areoplane first hit a mobile tower and crashed over houses,” witness Shakeel Ahmed said near the site, just a few kilometres short of the airport.
The jet, which tracking website FlightRadar24.com identified as a 15-year-old Airbus A320, was flying from the eastern city of Lahore to Karachi in the south just as Pakistan was resuming domestic flights in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The last we heard from the pilot was that he has some technical problem,” the state carrier’s spokesman Abdullah H. Khan said in a video statement.
Debris from the crash
“He was told from the final approach that both the runways were ready where he can land, but the pilot decided that he wanted to do (a) go-round … It is a very tragic incident.”
One 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 too early to determine the cause.
Pakistan’s army and rescue services rushed to the site, which appeared to be a densely populated area. Several cars were on fire,
“The pilot was told that he could land at the Karachi airports, he was told that both the runways were ready, but he took a circle and gave a MayDay call before the crash,” another civil aviation official, Abdul Sattar Khohar, told Reuters.
“We don’t know yet whether he gave any reason at the time of the MayDay call.”
The Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted. “Am in touch with PIA CEO Arshad Malik, who has left for Karachi & with the rescue & relief teams on ground as this is the priority right now,” “Immediate inquiry will be instituted. Prayers & condolences go to families of the deceased.”