New satellite video shows how PIA plane crashed in Karachi
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A new satellite video accompanied by the last conversation between air traffic controllers and Pilot Sajjad Gul, who was flying the ill-fated PIA flight PK 8303, shows how the plane crashed minutes after apparently developing a technical fault.
As many as 97 people were killed when an Airbus A320 passenger plane crashed into a residential area near the airport in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, seconds before landing at Jinnah International Airport on Friday afternoon.
The satellite video shows the pilot first tried to land the plane on the runway, but then took it off again. For the next 20 seconds, location of the plane is showing over the runway. Then the pilot turned his plane left and continued to fly for another two minutes. The pilot then turned to the Shah Faisal Alfalah area in Karachi.
As the pilot said in his conversation with the air traffic controllers that he has lost both engines of his plane, he tried to take a short cut to reach the runway again. The PIA plane disappeared from the radar as the pilot was trying to reach the runway for the second landing.
The plane was just short of the runway perimeter when it struck houses in the Model Colony residential area. TV footage showed rescue workers combing through debris strewn across the streets of the densely populated residential locality. A number of cars also caught fire after the plane crashed in a narrow street and were burnt completely.
Eyewitness told news channels they heard a massive sound and ran outside their homes to see what has happened. A number of houses collapsed completely and there was fire and thick smoke all around.
Two male passengers onboard the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Lahore to Karachi survived the crash, government officials confirmed on Saturday.