We hear the pilot of flight PK 8303 say that he has lost both engines.
Strong points
- PIA plane crashed while trying to land in Karachi
- In an audio clip, the pilot hears that he has lost both engines
- The aircraft first struck a mobile tower and crashed over the houses
New Delhi:
The final moments of the conversation between one of the pilots of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane that crashed while trying to land in Karachi and the air traffic controller were recorded at a site Flight tracking web.
In the audio clip published by liveatc.net – a well-known website used by aviation observers worldwide – the pilot of flight PK 8303 is said to have heard that he had lost both engines and then “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday”, the international distress message .
The air traffic controller was attempting to guide the airliner, with 99 passengers and crew, down for a landing after aborting a previous attempt to land. The pilot says that he lost the two engines of the Airbus A320.
The conversation proceeds as follows:
Pilot: PK 8303 [to] Approach
ATC: Ji Sir
Pilot: We have to turn left?
ATC: confirmed
Pilot: We are proceeding directly, we have lost both engines.
ATC: Confirm that you are landing on your stomach?
Pilot: (unclear)
ATC: runway available to land on 2 5
Driver: Roger
Pilot: Sir, Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, Pakistan 8303
ATC: Pakistan 8303, Roger Sir. Both runways are available for landing.
This is where the audio cuts out.
Moments later, the PIA plane crashed Friday in a residential area of Karachi, and many dead feared, officials said.
Smoke fell on the scene of the fall of flight PK 8303, roofs were collapsed and debris scattered in the streets while ambulances rushed through chaotic crowds.
“The plane first hit a mobile tower and crashed into homes,” witness Shakeel Ahmed told Reuters news agency near the site, a few kilometers from the airport.
The plane, which the tracking site 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 resumed its domestic flights following the coronavirus pandemic.
“The last time we heard from the driver is that he has a technical problem,” common carrier spokesman Abdullah H. Khan said in a video statement.
“During the final approach, he was told that the two runways were ready where he could land, but the pilot decided that he wanted to (a) go around … It was a very tragic incident “, did he declare.
(With agency contributions)
