PIA Karachi plane crash: AAIB releases final report

ISLAMABAD: The Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) has released the final investigation report of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Airbus A320 flight four years after the incident, ARY News reported.

On May 22, 2020, a PIA Airbus A320 coming from Lahore crashed in Karachi. The catastrophic aviation disaster took the lives of 99 passengers including the crew and two people on the ground. Only two passengers survived the crash.

The final investigation report said that the accident was caused by human error. It added that the pilot had been warned four times by the air traffic controller before landing that the plane was at extraordinary altitude.

The findings said that there was a lack of communication and harmony between the two pilots of the aircraft and the air traffic controllers.

According to the report, the two pilots made the first landing attempt without opening the landing gears, during which its engines struck the runway and caught fire. The report added that the air traffic controller did not inform the pilots about the engine’s fire.

It added that the plane’s last four-minute data could not be recorded as engine failure cut the electricity supply.

The report put the administrative responsibility for the accident on the PIA and the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as well.