PIA Plane Crash: Pilot Ignored 3 Warnings to Lower Altitude
The pilot of the PIA Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)’s crashed plane ignored three warnings from air traffic controllers about the aircraft’s altitude and speed as it approached for landing, according to a news report.
The ill-fated Airbus A-320 that took off from Lahore crashed into one of the densely populated neighborhoods in Karachi, the financial capital of Pakistan on Friday, causing significant damage to houses in the area. Of the 99 people aboard, 97 were killed and only two passengers survived.
The plane was 15 nautical miles from Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, flying at an altitude of 10,000 feet above the ground instead of 7,000 when the Air Traffic Control (ATC) issued its first warning to lower the plane’s altitude, Geo News, a Pakistani news channel, quoted an ATC report as saying.
Instead of lowering the plane’s altitude, the pilot responded by saying that he was satisfied. When only 10 nautical miles were left till the Karachi airport, the plane was at an altitude of 7,000 feet instead of 3,000 feet.
The air traffic controllers issued a second warning to the pilot to lower the plane’s altitude. However, the pilot responded again by stating that he was satisfied and would handle the situation, saying he was ready for landing, the report claimed.
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.
