Lahore: At least 97 people were killed in the Pakistan International Airlines plane crash in Karachi in Pakistan on Friday, Dawn reported. The plane was carrying 91 passengers and eight crew, contrary to earlier reports that said there were 107 people on board.
Meeran Yousuf, the media coordinator for Sindh Province Health Minister Azra Pechuho confirmed that only two people had survived. She identified the survivors as Zubair and Zafar Masood. Zafar is the president of Bank of Punjab.
The pilot sent a Mayday and told controllers the aircraft had lost power from both its engines on its second attempt to land, according to a recording posted on monitoring website liveatc.net.
After the aircraft reportedly called off an earlier attempt to land and went around for a second attempt, a controller radioed the pilot of flight 8303 that he appeared to be turning left, suggesting he was off-course.
The pilot replied, “We are returning back, sir, we have lost engines,” and the controller cleared the plane to land on either of Karachi airport’s two West-Southwest-facing runways.
Twelve seconds later the pilot called “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” and was again cleared to use either runway. There was no further communication from the aircraft, reported to be an Airbus A320, according to the audio from liveatc.net, a respected source for in-flight recordings.
Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has promised an “immediate inquiry” into the matter and said that he is in touch with PIA chief executive Arshad Malik. He said rescue and relief efforts are the “priority right now”.
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