A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) PK8303 Airbus A320 which was carrying about 91 passengers and 8 crew members crashed into a residential area- Model colony near the Jinnah International Airport destroying four houses in the residential area. It’s been reported that out of the 99 people in the plane, only two have survived the crash-Muhammad Zubair and Zafar Masood The plane was flying from Lahore to Karachi and had been due to land at The Jinnah International Airport after a journey that normally takes half an hour. When it was attempting to land the first time, the plane jolted thrice after which the pilot aborted the landing and lifted the aircraft off the ground, it was after 10-15 minutes of their first attempt, they attempted to land again but the engines started malfunctioning and after a couple of minutes the plane crashes into the colony. Eleven people on the ground were reportedly injured too. To speed up the relief and rescue efforts, the Pakistani military had sent an army urban search and rescue team to rescue people amidst the crash and military ambulances were sent to provide necessary medical assistance on ground. The exact reason why the plane crash is unknown.
The PIA chief executive Air Vice Marshal Arshad malik said that the plane was unable to open its landing gears and was facing some technical issues. He even rejected the reports that the planes were facing problems before flying and stated that the plane was completely normal and that it has passed all the safety protocols and checks. Pakistan has set up a four-member board of inquiry to know the cause of the flight crash, they have recovered flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder from the crash site and have begun their inquiry as to why the engines of the plane started malfunctioning. The board has been asked to complete their inquiry within the shortest possible time. This is not the only crash that has taken place in Pakistan involving a PIA aircraft. In 2016 An ATR 42 twin-engine propeller plane crashed in December in Abbottabad in Pakistan which killed 47 people. The country only last week had resumed domestic flights which had been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. This crash has landed a severe shock in the hearts of the people in Pakistan and has destroyed they’re festive of Eid al-Fitr and Ramadan were going to commence soon.
