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Turbulence, Warnings Before Pakistan Plane Crash Killed 97

Associated Press

   KARACHI, PAKISTAN - When the plane jolted violently, Mohammad Zubair
   thought it was turbulence. Then the pilot came on the intercom to warn
   that the landing could be "troublesome."

   Moments later, the Pakistan International Airlines flight crashed into
   a crowded neighborhood near Karachi's international airport, killing 97
   people, all of whom are believed to be passengers and crew members.
   Zubair was one of just two surviving passengers.

   Meeran Yousaf, the provincial Health Department spokeswoman, said only
   21 of the bodies from Friday's crash have been identified and that most
   of the bodies were badly burned. Eight people on the ground were
   injured. Three remained hospitalized and all residents are accounted
   for, she said.

   The plane crashed at 2:39 p.m. near Jinnah International Airport, in
   the poor and congested residential area known as Model Colony. PIA
   spokesman Abdullah Hafiz Khan said the aircraft destroyed or heavily
   damaged 18 homes. Many of the men of the area were gathered at nearby
   mosques for weekly Friday prayers, perhaps explaining why the number of
   casualties on the ground seemed relatively few against the backdrop of
   the devastating wreckage.

   Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Abdul Sattar Kokhar said the Airbus
   A320 was carrying 91 passengers and eight crew members. The only other
   survivor of the crash was Zafar Masood, a bank executive.

   In a telephone interview from his hospital bed, Zubair, a mechanical
   engineer, said flight PK8303 had taken off on time from the eastern
   city of Lahore at 1 p.m. It was a smooth, uneventful flight until the
   aircraft began its descent near Karachi shortly before 3 p.m.

   "Suddenly the plane jerked violently, once and then again," said
   Zubair. The aircraft turned and the pilot's voice came over the
   intercom. They were experiencing engine trouble and the landing could
   be "troublesome," the pilot said. That was the last thing Zubair
   remembered until he woke up in a scene of chaos.

   "I saw so much smoke and fire. I heard people crying, children crying."
   He crawled his way out of the smoke and rubble, and was eventually
   pulled from the ground and rushed into an ambulance.
   VOA Video of Cleanup Operations at the Crash Site:

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