Sindh

Private plane crashes in Karachi, 21 dead

All 21 passengers aboard JS Air aircraft killed in crash, reports suggest possible engine failure.

Naureen Aqueel/Atika Rehman November 05, 2010

KARACHI: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has ordered an inquiry into the crash of a small private aircraft in Karachi, in which 21 passengers and crew on board were killed on Friday morning.

A spokesman of CAA has said that the investigation team will be headed by Air Commodore Khawaja Abdul Majeed.

A small plane belonging to Jahangir Siddiqui (JS) Air took off from Jinnah International Airport and crashed near Pehelwan Goth shortly after take-off, near a residential and military area in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar suburb in Karachi.

Express 24/7 correspondent Shehryar Mirza reported two pilots were among the dead. CAA stated that 21 people were on board the plane when it crashed, and that one security guard and one technician are among the dead.

Mirza said all 21 bodies have been pulled out of the aircraft and that rescue teams have been dispatched to the site of the crash. The bodies are charred beyond recognition, and 17 bodies have been shifted to the Aga Khan University Hospital, while the rest have been shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and Liaquat National Hospital.

"The plane has been totally gutted and there are no survivors," Lieutenant Colonel Noor Alam told reporters. The plane was believed to be carrying about 20 people, mostly Pakistanis, he said, adding that bodies have not yet been identified.

Talking to Express 24/7, CAA spokesperson Pervaiz George confirmed that the plane is a JS Air aircraft, which took off from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi at 7:13 am for Bhitshah.

Technical failure may be reason behind crash

George said the plane crashed due to possible engine failure, as the control tower received reports from the pilot that there was a problem after take-off, after which the pilot was told to land back at the airport. He said that the plane had been cleared for take off prior to the crash.

Sources say the aircraft had not been cleared for take-off two days prior to the crash as it had technical problems and needed repairs, but took off despite the warning. A JS Air spokesperson confirmed that the black box of the aircraft has been recovered.

An eyewitness said the plane turned back towards the airport shortly after take-off, after which it fell to the ground and burst into flames.

JS spokesperson Nadeem Hanif told Express 24/7 that the American aircraft was a reliable one, saying it was "airworthy and fit to take this flight".

"The technical team will investigate the fault," he said, adding that heirs of the crash victims have been notified of the tragedy.

A company official in Karachi told AFP the plane was chartered by ENI, an Italian multinational oil company, and was carrying its employees. Mirza told Express 24/7 that one of the passengers was a foreign national.

JS Air plane details

The aircraft's make is Beech 1900-C and was manufactured in 1990 and 1991. The aircrafts are being acquired from Raytheon of United States, who is also the manufacturers of Beechcraft.

It has standard accommodation of flight crew of two plus standard passenger accommodation for 19.

The passenger list given to Mirza by CAA is as follows:

Captain Naeem

Captain Numan

Ashiq Ali

Imran Khan

Salem Khokhar

Amir Saeed

Salman Khan

Ali Khan

Husain

Mohammad Aslam

Arshan Ali

Qamar Habib

Israr Khan

Ghulam Mustafa

Zafar Iqbal

Dr Saeed

Nisar Ahmed

Hasan

Manzoor

With additional input from AFP

COMMENTS (55)

Secret Services | 13 years ago | Reply Thanks for sharing Dr. Syed Nisar Naqvi's tragic departure from this World. Iused to fly from the same air strip while working for Lasmo Oil Co. On one occasion we have to push the the aircraft (3 persons+pilot), I don't remember was it a regular procedure to start engine? Its nice to know we have Naqvis in Mir Pur Mathelo, Hows city or its outskirts after flood? Is there any outcome of investigation?

Dr. Sabit Ali Pitafi | 13 years ago | Reply I am very sorry to write these few lines for my best friend syed Iqbal Ahmed Naqvi (assistant engineer in that company). Iqbal was younger brother of my classfellow Dr. Syed Nisar Ahmed Naqvi of Mirpur mathelo sindh. Very Cute, Handsome and intellegent boy. In young age he got that position at Multinational company. Shaheed Iqbal Naqvis dead body was almost intact when Nisar received from Edhi dead body house. Because he was a very religious and very kind person GOD kept intact his body for identification. Unfortunetly in Edhi home there is a no full facility to preserve dead body, even thopugh edhi is very honest and good person. May Allah give the families of the deceased courage to bear the loss and grant Jannat to the ones who lost their lives in the ill fateful incident. May Allah rest the soul of every deceaced in Jannat.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

MZ | 13 years ago | Reply Very unfortunate!!! These type of accidents will continue if the CAA athourities does not take any serious actions against the carrier in case if it proofs that its engine had some known problems. The aircraft company should be completely ceased and heavy penalties should be imposed with impriosonment for responsible persons. 21 lives means 21 families.

asif | 13 years ago | Reply I lost my relative Saleemuddin in this catastrrophe The loss is unrepairable May God console his immediate family members I hope investigations would identify the reason for this crash so that it should be avoided in the future

Secret Services | 13 years ago | Reply I have included Meekal's name for his tech evaluation of coming investgation.

Shahbaz Akhtar | 13 years ago | Reply @ Arsalan Ahmed: Emaad was not on that unfortunate plane and he is safe by the Grace of Almighty Allah. his contact no is 0300-4256855.

kilamrasfa | 13 years ago | Reply It is the culture of corruption and sifarish prevalent within CAA particularly among the regulators which is the cause of air accidents. This culture has gone from bad to worse in the recent past. CAA regulators are no different from rest of the beaurocracy in this country. They are responsible for issuing airworthiness & air operators certificates to airlines as well as licenses to pilots, engineers and technicians. The Investigation Board may or may not ink the real cause of accident because it is part of CAA, and CAA would not like to shoot itself in the foot.

Shani Syed | 13 years ago | Reply May Allah give the families of the deceased courage to bear the loss and grant Jannat to the ones who lost their lives in the ill fateful incident. I work in Jinnah Terminal in the HR dept of a private aviation company, and by the look of things I have seen around unlike Air Blue the facts are not being hidden it clearly reflects the bad maintanance and JS Air aswell as CAA incapability to tackle things, yes the plane did crash over in an empty area belonging to the military near civil residential area but as per Allah Almighty's graciousness not on the thickly populated residential area of Johur else the catastrophe would have engulfed more precious lives on land. I dint see much being done or initiative taken by JS air to do out of ordinary or by the CAA to console the ones who lost loved ones in the crash. May Allah protect us frm sudden griefs and accidential death Ameen. Our country authorities have no value for hauman lives they dint satisfy us with the Air Blue rash they wont with this one either.

Ali Hussain | 13 years ago | Reply CAA should fully investigate and if poor maintenace is responsible for this crash then charges should be filed against all those responsible.

User | 13 years ago | Reply Very very very sad,

ENGR TAUSEEF | 13 years ago | Reply my friend ENGR SYED IRSHAD ALI WAS ALSO IN THIS PLANE PLZ PRAY FOR HI AND ALL OF THEM WHO DIED

Meekal Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply First of all my prayers for those killed. All twin-engine aircraft anywhere in the world are designed to climb out safely on one engine. That has to be demonstrated at certification in this case by the US FAA. If it cannot do that, it will not be certified to fly. Secondly, a single-engine-out is something pilots are required to demonstrate proficiency in handling at initial and recurrent training, now days in flight simulators. They need to keep repeating the scenario until they get a passing grade. At low speed and had the wings been kept level and the aircraft going straight ahead with rudder kicked in to compensate for slide-slip due to one inoperative engine and the other giving full-power (asymetric thrust), this was a surviveable accident. It seems he did not fly straight ahead, one wing dropped which would have meant loss of lift and he probably cartwheeled into the ground. From the wreckage that is what appears to have happened. Maybe he even forgot to pull up his wheels which would have added to drag being distracted by the engine failure and the procedures you need to feather it while his co-pilot was busy talking to the tower. This accident is very similar to the PIA F.27 crash in Multan recently. An engine fire at the moment of lift-off, failure to take in the gear adding to drag, a wing drop, loss of lift and its all over. That was a survivable accident too. Additionally it was a very hot day in Multan which compromises aircraft climb-out performance to begin with. Rumor has it the aircraft was over its maximum take-off weight (MTOW) as extra baggage was put on board (with a "baksheesh" for the loader )but not recorded in the weight and balance sheet wich the Captain has to read and sign-off on. No sane pilot will take-off at above MTOW. If he is, he will wait on the runway and burn off fuel until he is at or under MTOW.

Secret Services | 13 years ago | Reply Arslan, I agree with you for not accusing maintenance team until they are declared guilty by a thorough audit & investigation and level of investigation should be extended to prevent further miseries. General notion is that now mistrust over PIA, CAA, Private Charters will continue after Islamabad and Khi crashes. BP already winded up operations in PAK, I hope they might halt charter flights at least, as it mght have outsourced to the same company.

Arslan Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply If the passenger list is incorrect. Please someone inform me of whether Emaad ud din Dohdy (ENI) was on the flight or not. I dont have his contact number with me. Arslan Ahmed Bp Pakistan

ALI786 | 13 years ago | Reply Thats a very sad incident May Al-Mighty Allah rest their souls in peace. Ameen

Arslan Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply I work in a similar Oil and Gas Exploration Company and we have the same Beech 1900-C that takes us to our field in Badin. It was really heart wrenching to hear of such an accident. One of my friend from college works in ENI Pakistan (He wasnt on the the flight)... Its really painful to go thru all those names of the deceased. May there souls rest in peace. Amen. Arslan Ahmed

Omair | 13 years ago | Reply A very sad incident indeed. May Allah bless the sould of the perished. It was very disturbing to read that the article quoted 'Sources' when talking about the aircraft being not airworthy two days back. Unless these 'Sources' are identified, they carry a non-existant credibility which serves only to sensationalize the news rather than an unbiased journalism. As of the current moment, there is no evidence of any carelessness on the part of the aircraft engineers or inspection team backed by a reliable and worthy source. I may have been the case but until a concrete fact is presented, such loose comments quoting 'Sources' should be avoided. We should all pray for those who were on that airplane. Regards

Secret Services | 13 years ago | Reply Hello Secret Thanks for releasing sensitive info, both PIA, CAA and other allied aeroplane industry is infiltrated by in-competent, unqualified staff. pilot appointed by PM, once diverted flight to pick an ex minister (Zardari's freind). If that can happen to JS, it can happen to any other carrier, I will ask authorities to halt all Private Carriers Operations until thorough investigation and audit. One more important aspect, I realized that ENI might have forced JS to fly at any cost today as tonight MQM 5000s workers are going to siege, secure airport and its airstrip to receive Imran Farooq body.

Munazza sami | 13 years ago | Reply @ Faraz Yess it crash in deserted place but the only road for the hospital passes in front ov my house

barnado | 13 years ago | Reply oh! what happened!

Arshad Mahmood | 13 years ago | Reply Feeling downhearted...on lossing of a good comrade. This is not a mishap, it is a blunder. I will say strongly, it is human err. This incident occur due to incompetency of inspecting staff prior to its take off. I understand that mon-vigilent, non-serious attitude is due to daily same chore. Shuffling of inspection crew should be rapid to maintain better focus for improving operational reliability.

S.M.UMAIR ILYAS | 13 years ago | Reply this plane belong to eni pakistan pvt ltd. my uncle (s.m.ghayas) name in passenger list but by the grace of our might allah he was not board at this plane but some channel gives wrong passenger list on screen.in that list his name also showed. may allah gives courage to their families

MUHAMMAD ALI IMRAN CH | 13 years ago | Reply Really very sad happened///

Ali Nawaz | 13 years ago | Reply May Allah gives courage to their families and may their souls rest in peace.

Kamran Mahar | 13 years ago | Reply Very said news for all Pakistanis , May God gives courage to their families,

Erfan Aziz | 13 years ago | Reply Indeed very sad.

Rozina | 13 years ago | Reply Very said news for all, May God gives courage to their families, May Allah gives rest in piece their souls, But this is all depends on negligence. we couldn't forgotten last occurrence of air blue, other is in front of us, My God what is it happening, God bless to all Ameen Sum Ameen

Secret | 13 years ago | Reply I also work for Oil Company and use to travel in JS Air planes. It was observed that JS AIr was not doing good maintenance. Once they front tyre found rupture just when it was ready to take off fire fighting van driver noticed it. Second time pilot landed plane 70 feet short of run way. And once they started engine on karachi run way just before take off after three tries egine got started. It was sad incedenct. There lives were precious. May ALLAH give them Janah and pardon there sins. AMEEEEN

Paki | 13 years ago | Reply Coming out of grief..............Is there any sane mind ready to go by book????? Where are the inquiry reports of all crashes??? of all major disasters/events/killing??? BRUSH UNDER THE CARPET AND BE READY FOR THE NEXT

Aftab Kenneth Wilson | 13 years ago | Reply Very unfortunate. My heartfelt condolence to the grieved families and friends. May their souls rest in Peace, Amen.

haroon khan | 13 years ago | Reply so sad ...this is bcz of poor maintanance

Shahbaz Akhtar | 13 years ago | Reply Passengers names are not correct.... I request to media, please don;t communicate worong and un realistic things. That can hampeer the relatives as welll. Try to investigate nad then issue the names its correct that there is a plane crash and all passengers are dead but the list of the passengers reported is not correct.... This clearly shows the negligence....

Omer Ahsan | 13 years ago | Reply One would think that the CAA would have been more vigil in checking Airplanes before they take off, but guess there is a general slack in all government bodies because the leadership is also slacking at its job.

sajid ali bhutto | 13 years ago | Reply its very shocking news for all pakistanis....its the 2nd incident in 2010..... our souls are bitterly painful n our heart is just beating an unknown fear...we pray from ALLAH may bless upon them....may ALLAH BLESS UPON US..Amin

Zuhair | 13 years ago | Reply JS Air should be barred from operating flights. The Air Blue plane was also JS's.

ABDUL KADER HAJEE AHMED | 13 years ago | Reply IT IS INDEED VERY VERY TRAUMATIC. MAY ALLAH SUBHANAUTALA BLESS THE DEPARTED SOULS AND GIVE THE GRIEVING FAMILIES THE FORTITUDE TO BEAR THIS IRREPAIRABLE LOSS WITH COURAGE AND PATIENCE. AAMEEN.

hamid | 13 years ago | Reply very sad but agar wo nahi thek tha to uray kuin soy hoty hain sub kya jub apna mary ga to inko pher khayal ay ga mun utha k a jaty hain sub k sub pata kuch ha nahi

Husnain | 13 years ago | Reply May their souls Rest in heavens. Ameen

Syed Hassan | 13 years ago | Reply Allah sab ki maghfirat kere.

aa | 13 years ago | Reply Very sad. May their souls rest in peace. I think this is an accurate example of the poor quality of reporting. The news article does not mention the make and registration of the aircraft. This information would have helped finding the life, incidence and other records of the plane from internet.

sameera | 13 years ago | Reply seems to be the year of plane crashes. Sad that extra care was not/is not taken after Air Blue. No value for life? accidents are a reality of life, but we must NOT forget that even God said one He undoubtedly will help his creations but we must also help ourselves. May their souls rest in peace and may Allah have mercy on us all. Ameen.

Noman Bashir | 13 years ago | Reply It is very saddening to know how are we lacking the infrastructure and training to deal with such catastrophes. How in the name of such incidents are we losing oilfield professionals and experts.that have given more to this taken than what we have taken from them. The establishment and corrupt policies of the government combined with the poor performance of CAA is what leads to incidents of such caliber. May the departed rest in peace.

Sarah B. Haider | 13 years ago | Reply Accidents are inevitable, but I think we need a more efficient CRM training. The case of United Airlines Flight 232 is an example of effective CRM.

Social Media Dashboard | 13 years ago | Reply Very Sad News...

Faraz Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply @Munazza: did it crash in a deserted place? or were there any people around ?

anonymous | 13 years ago | Reply May the deceased rest in peace.

Riasat Ali | 13 years ago | Reply Very sad news - all private aircrafts must abide proper procedure for maintenance and final take off - as under this situation no can be blamed for technical failure or engine problem. however, CAA and others should ensure proper handling and saving of lives of the passengers and crew. Riasat Ali

Munazza sami | 13 years ago | Reply ohhhh its near to my house.......i can hear the alarms of ambulances rushing towards the incident place.....its horrible................May GOD bless all ov us

syed fahad khalid | 13 years ago | Reply very sad May Al-Mighty Allah rest their souls in peace. Ameen.

Kingdom of Truth | 13 years ago | Reply This is very sad moment for all of us. Kingdom sincerely condoles with friends and family of the victims of this tragic incident. We urge to pray for the victims. With lot of prays and Regards Representative Kingdom of Truth

Noor | 13 years ago | Reply This is tragic. Heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.

Sydney Candles | 13 years ago | Reply Very Sad!!

ARF | 13 years ago | Reply Really sad - may their souls rest in peace and may Allah give their families courage and patience during this trying time. Ameen

Syed A. Mateen | 13 years ago | Reply This might have been the cause of poor maintenance of the twin-engine aircraft. CAA should issue the names of passengers, cockpit and cabin crew who were on board. May Al-Mighty Allah rest their souls in peace. Ameen.

omer | 13 years ago | Reply Thats a very sad incident

Replying to X