PK-8303 crash: Pilot violated instructions of ATC, says CAA report

KARACHI: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has released a report regarding ‘violations’ made by pilot of ill-fated PK-8303 aircraft of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) which was crashed on May 22, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

The Civil Aviation Authority’s Additional Director Operation sent a letter to the safety department of the national flag-carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The copy of the letter was obtained by ARY News which stated that the pilot of the Airbus 320 aircraft did not follow the instruction of the air traffic controller (ATC).

It stated that the altitude of the plane was high at the approach point and the air traffic controller had warned the captain of PK-8303 regarding it. The altitude of the plane was 5,200 feet at the seven nautical miles that is considered high from the approach profile.

The ATC had warned the captain twice and instructed to turn the plane to 180 degrees besides maintaining the required altitude, however, the instructions were completely neglected by the pilot, said the report.

Read: PK-8303 crash: ATC, approach tower controllers submit written reply to probe board

It also stated that the plane fell down to 1,300 feet altitude from 3,500 feet at the four nautical miles, whereas, the speed of the aircraft was more than 250 knots before landing which is also considered high from the required acceleration.

The report was followed by the written response of air traffic controller (ATC) and approach tower controllers which had been submitted to the investigation board on May 26 during the probe of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane, PK-8303, crash incident.

It stated that the approach tower controller had handled the flight from Lahore to Karachi and the task was handed over to the ATC to make the plane safely landed at the airport. The landing task had been given by the approach tower to the ATC after 10 nautical miles.

Read: PIA plane crash: Airbus experts begin decoding cockpit voice recorder

The air traffic controller told the probe board that the captain neglected the instructions at 10 nautical miles as a plane needs to maintain 1,800-foot altitude before landing, whereas, the captain of the ill-fated plane had maintained 3,000 -foot altitude at that time.

The captain had asked the ATC that he will adjust its altitude and speed before landing, however, he landed the plane without opening landing gear during the first attempt. The ATC added that both engines of the aircraft were badly damaged after hitting the ground as the plane landed without opening landing gear. It seems that the captain forgot to open the landing gear while maintaining speed and altitude of the aircraft, said the air traffic controller.

Read: Heirs of PK-8303 crash victims to get insurance amount of Rs5m each

Later, the captain had asked permission to land once again and informed the control tower that both engines of the aircraft were not working. The plane had been granted permission to land at the left side of runway number 25. According to the ATC and approach tower controller, the captain of the aircraft had been informed them regarding any kind of emergency. The captain had told the air traffic controller that he was calm and he will manage to land the aircraft.

However, the aircraft with more than 90 passengers and eight crew members on board had crashed in a residential area, Model Colony, moments before expected landing at the Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport. Only two passengers had survived the deadly accident.