Follow me on Instagram- It was supposed to be another regular flight on one of Pakistan’s busiest domestic routes between its two biggest cities.
State-run Pakistan International Airlines Corp.’s PK 8303 flight had a normal departure from the eastern city of Lahore. Close to landing before 2:45 p.m. local time, the pilots told passengers to fasten their seat-belts as it approached Karachi’s airport in a flight that usually takes less than two hours. Everything was fine - until the last few seconds.
The plane began its descent. Instead of gliding on the runway, it hit the ground a few times - for about 20 to 30 seconds - before the pilots pulled the plane back up into the air again. It reached a maximum altitude of 3,175 feet about two minutes later, based on data by FWIW, the Flightradar24 website that tracks aircraft.
The pilots added power and lifted off again, a maneuver known as a go-around. While a witness estimated it was aloft for 10 to 15 minutes longer, Flightradar24 data indicates it was nearing the ground 5 1/2 minutes later.
It’s in that window that the pilots announced a second attempt to land. Calls for help were heard at the airport control tower.
“Sir, we have lost engines,” the pilot said to a controller, according to a recording from LiveATC.net, which collects audio feeds from air-traffic staff. About 30 seconds later, the pilot again radioed a distress call: “Mayday. Mayday. Mayday.”
On the last recorded position captured by a Flightradar24 ground station, the Airbus SE A320 jet was at an altitude of about 500 feet and descending.
The plane, carrying 99 people, eventually smashed through rooftops of houses before finally crashing into a narrow lane of the residential area miles away from the airport that the runway was possibly in sight.
“After the crash, there was fire everywhere, you could not see anyone,” said Muhammad Zubair, a survivor from the plane crash that killed 97 people. “I opened my seatbelt, and headed towards the light.”
Zubair recounted the final moments before the accident to a local television channel. He was seated in the eighth row while the only other survivor, Zafar Masud, who’s the president of Bank of Punjab Ltd., was seated in the first row, various local news outlets said.
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