Pakistan International Airlines Flight Crashes in Karachi -- 2nd Update
23 May 2020 - 12:06AM
Dow Jones News
By Saeed Shah and Waqar Gillani
ISLAMABAD -- A Pakistan International Airlines domestic flight
crashed Friday as it approached Karachi airport with 98 passengers
and crew on board, the airline said.
The pilot radioed in an emergency before the crash, the airline
said.
"We have lost engine...mayday, mayday, mayday," the pilot told
air-traffic control just before the plane went down, according to a
voice recording played on local television channels and confirmed
as authentic by the airline.
The plane, an Airbus A320, had come from the eastern city of
Lahore and was due to land in the southern city of Karachi at
around 3 p.m. local time. It went down near Karachi airport, said
Athar Awan, a spokesman for the airline.
Arshad Malik, chief executive of PIA, said the plane was on its
final approach to the airport. The pilot reported a technical
problem to air-traffic control. He was told both runways were
available for him to land.
"But the pilot decided to go round," said Mr. Malik. "Why he did
that, we will have to investigate."
A spokesman for Airbus SE said that "we are aware of the reports
about an accident involving a passenger aircraft in Pakistan. At
this time we have no further details."
Ghulam Sarwar Khan, the aviation minister, said the flight would
have been carrying passengers going to see their loved ones for the
Muslim festival of Eid, which falls this weekend.
Provincial government officials said that the plane went down in
the vicinity of a residential area. Rescue operations were under
way, with anecdotal reports of survivors.
Thick smoke rose into the air, fires burned on the ground and
rubble from buildings and plane parts was scattered in the streets,
according to video shown on local television channels. The roofs of
some buildings had collapsed.
The pictures showed what appeared to be a middle-class
residential area, filled with low-rise apartment buildings.
--Benjamin Katz in London contributed to this article.
Write to Saeed Shah at saeed.shah@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 22, 2020 09:51 ET (13:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Airbus (EU:AIR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Airbus (EU:AIR)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024