Probe teams collect more evidence from PK 8303 crash site

Foreign experts extend their stay in country as cockpit voice recorder of plane still remains unrecovered

KARACHI: The 11-member team of foreign experts visited the crash site of the ill-fated Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) A320 plane on Wednesday for the second time, inspected the debris of the aircraft for five hours and collected further evidence related to the accident.

The PIA passenger plane, with 99 people on board, crashed in Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi last Friday, killing 97 people (89 passengers and eight crew members). Two passengers miraculously survived the crash.

The team which comprises members from France, Germany, United Kingdom and other countries arrived in Pakistan from France on Tuesday.

The experts extending the scope of investigation conducted forensic examination of the aircraft wreckage and also collected different parts of the plane that would help in identifying the reasons of the crash.

They also used drone cameras at lower and high levels for the purpose.

On the second day too, the A320 experts and the national investigation team Aircraft Accident and Investigation Board (AAIB) focused their attention on finding the voice recorder of the ill-fated plane.

The foreign experts have extended their stay in the country as the cockpit voice recorder of the plane still remains unrecovered.

Later, the 11-member investigative team visited the radar centre at the Jinnah International Airport.

They reviewed the arrangements made for the landing and take-off of planes, inspected the equipment in the radar room and asked different questions from the on-duty air traffic controller.

The team then visited the control tower and reviewed the code of conduct followed after receiving an emergency call.

Meanwhile, the job of lifting the debris from the crash site irrelevant to the inquiry has been started on the directions of the investigation teams for which heavy machinery is being used.

Before the lifting of the wreckage, Pakistan Air Force, PIA engineering and technical ground force and Civil Aviation Security and Vigilance teams were also called on the accident site.

Speaking on the occasion to The Express Tribune, members of the investigation team said that the equipment of the crashed plane including engines, landing gears and avionics system would remain on the accident site for the next three days so that the probe teams could carry out inspection as and when required.

On the other hand, the company manufacturing the Airbus planes has expressed satisfaction over the cooperation extended by the Pakistani government.

The A320 experts said that the investigation of the crash was being carried out in an adept manner and the AAIB was fully cooperating with it.

The investigation teams will again visit the accident site, runway and Civil Aviation Headquarters for briefing on Thursday (today).

Meanwhile, speaking about the plane crash victims, the PIA spokesperson said that the results of bodies’ identification through DNA have started coming.

Until now, the identification process of 47 bodies has been completed, while 43 bodies have been handed over for burial.

The body of senior bureaucrat Khalid Sherdil who was travelling in the ill-fated PIA flight has been identified and handed over to his family.

The spokesperson said that the PIA CEO personally contacted the families of all the crash victims and offered condolence over their demise.

A one window operation has been launched under which the national flag carrier will assist the families of the crash victims in coordinating with other institutions, identifying and handing over bodies and obtaining death certificates.

The PIA is issuing domestic and international tickets to the families of the deceased and has been handing over the bodies of the victims to them.

The spokesperson urged the people to refrain from making comments or inferring any conclusion until the investigation report of the crash arrives.