This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
A Pakistani International Airlines (PIA) aircraft with at least 99 people on board has crashed into a residential area in the southern port city of Karachi after experiencing technical problems.
The Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that the crash occurred on May 22 and involved an Airbus A320 flown by PIA that was traveling from Lahore to Karachi.
‘Mayday, mayday…’- Pakistan plane’s last message from the pilot.
In the mayday call, the pilot can be heard saying that the plane has lost its engines.
There are ‘no survivors’ after the plane crash in Karachi, read more here: https://t.co/Xu6ZzKS2CE pic.twitter.com/mIraPV8SXb
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) May 22, 2020
Arshad Mailk, the chief executive officer for the airline, said in a video posted to Twitter that the pilot had reported having problems before the crash.
“The last we heard from the pilot was that he has some technical problem,” he said. “It is a very tragic incident.
PIA CEO, Air Marshal Arshad Malik on PIA’s #PK8303 crash.
•Prayers with families 💔#Karachi #planecrash #PIA #ArshadMalik pic.twitter.com/o5OYsF5far— Faeza Dawood (@FaezaDawood) May 22, 2020
Photos and video posted on social media showed plumes of black smoke rising over a residential neighborhood not far from Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport.
View this post on Instagram
BREAKING: PIA aircraft crashes in Model Colony near Jinnah international airport Karachi. #DawnToday
A reporter for Geo TV told RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal that they could see a fire on the plane while still in the air before it crashed into buildings on the ground.
An unknown number of people on the ground were also believed injured.
At least three people are said to have survived the terrible plane crash in #Pakistan according to reports from the scene and the hospital. Look at this incredible footage given to my colleague @muhammadbySky #karachi #planecrash pic.twitter.com/rr4AECmip5
— Alex Crawford (@AlexCrawfordSky) May 22, 2020
Witnesses said the jet appeared to attempt to land two or three times before going down.
Flight tracking website flightradar24.com identified the flight as PK8303, and said the aircraft was a 15-year-old Airbus A320 with the registration AP-BLD.
