Daily Times

The pilot of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight, which crashed on 22 May in Karachi killing 97 passengers onboard, had ignored three warnings from Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) about the altitude and speed of the aircraft before landing.

According to an ATC report, Captain Sajjad Gul, the pilot of PK-8303 flight of Airbus A-320, said that he “would handle the situation” before the aircraft crashed into a narrow residential street, bringing significant damage to houses in a densely-populated neighborhood.

ATC report further said plane was 15 nautical miles from the Jinnah International Airport, flying at an altitude of 10,000 feet above the ground instead of 7,000 when the ATC issued its first warning to lower the plane’s altitude.

However, instead of lowering the altitude, the pilot responded by saying that he was satisfied and managed the situation. It added when only 10 nautical miles were left till the airport, the plane was at an altitude of 7,000 feet instead of 3,000 feet.

The ATC issued a second warning to the pilot to lower the plane’s altitude. The pilot responded again by stating that he was satisfied and would handle the situation, adding that he was ready for landing.

The report said that the plane had enough fuel to fly for two hours and 34 minutes, while its total flying time was recorded at one hour and 33 minutes.

Pakistani investigators are trying to find out if the crash is attributable to a pilot error or a technical glitch.

According to a report prepared by the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the plane”s engines had scraped the runway thrice on the pilot”s first attempt to land, causing friction and sparks recorded by the experts.

When the aircraft scraped the ground on the first failed attempt at landing, the engine’s oil tank and fuel pump may have been damaged and started to leak, preventing the pilot from achieving the required thrust and speed to raise the aircraft to safety, the report said.