Pakistan: PIA pilots ignored warnings from controller before crash
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The pilot was warned twice, but he continued with the descent by claiming he was comfortable with it.
Pakistani aviation authorities have revealed that the pilots of the Pakistan International Airlines' (PIA) aircraft, that crashed into a residential district of Karachi last month, had ignored air traffic control`s instructions for landing.
In a letter sent to PIA, the Civil Aviation Authority said an approach controller warned the pilot twice to discontinue its current approach, but the pilot did not pay heed to the orders.
Initial reports suggested the plane scraped its engines along the runway on a first attempt to land following what appeared to be an unstable approach, arriving steep and fast.
As the passenger plane came close to landing, the plane's ground speed was more than the runway threshold, according to the controller. The plane lifted from the runway surface and crashed into the residential colony, while attempting a second approach.
The flight had been observed as being high for approach as it passed Makli, about 100 km east of Karachi. The pilot was warned twice, but he continued with the descent by claiming he was comfortable with it.
The PIA Airbus A320 crashed in Karachi on May 22 while landing, and the pilots reported loss of both engines. Ninety seven people on board were killed; two survived. At least one person was reported to have died on the ground, and several other were injured.
The black box found from the crash site is being decoded by French air accident agency BEA.