A PIA Pakistan International Airlines A320-200 has crashed today at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport, Pakistan, during its final approach.
The Airbus A320, with registration AP-BLD, was performing flight PK8303 from Lahore to Karachi (Pakistan) with 91 passengers and 7 crew - 51 men, 31 women and nine children, according to the PIA flight manifest.
"The last we heard from the pilot was that he has some technical problem. It is a very tragic incident."
PIA spokesman Abdullah H. Khan
This was the second attempt at landing, the first approach was aborted due to problems with the extension of the landing gear and they were forced to performed a go-around.
Flight #PK8303 took off from Lahore at 08:05. At 09:34 the aircraft made a landing attempt that was aborted at 275 feet and the aircraft climbed up to 3175 feet. Signal was lost at 09:40 at 525 feet.
- Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) May 22, 2020
All times are UTC.
Screenshots show take off, go around and last signal. pic.twitter.com/tOXHXZSkNr
"The pilot was told that both runways were ready for him to land. However, the pilot decided to do a go-around. Why did he do that, due to what technical reason, that we will find out."
said PIA CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik to Geo News
Pakistan Intl Airlines - PIA Airbus A320 (AP-BLD, built 2004) crashed on approach into a populated area E of Karachi Intl Airport (OPKC) with 99+8 on board. Flight #PK8303 originated in Lahore and was on a 2nd landing attempt after a go-around. No survivors yet. @omar_quraishi pic.twitter.com/anWsKWTtH5
- JACDEC (@JacdecNew) May 22, 2020
The aircraft impacted a dense urban area, called Model Colony, and burst into flames. It is still unknown if anyone survived the crash.
According to Geo News, ambulances faced difficulty in arriving at the scene; as the streets are narrow in that area and there was a huge presence of people. Rescue sources said that 15-20 people have been helped out from under the rubble.
Video of the crash site:
More information to come when available.Feature Image: Anna Zvereva
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