Pakistan plane crash: Jet carrying 107 people crashes into houses near airport

[ErezS]

A Pakistan International Airlines plane disappeared from radar and crashed in a residential area near Karachi Airport while the Airbus A320 was on its final approach from Lahore after the pilot reportedly notified authorities of a technical fault.

Many casualties are feared after a plane carrying more than 100 passengers and crew crashed into houses shortly after the captain reportedly notified air traffic control of a technical fault.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) jet was on its final approach to Karachi Airport when it went down in a residential area near Model Colony and disappeared from radar shortly before it was due to land.

A number of houses were damaged or destroyed and a major rescue operation was underway to save any survivors amid a huge fire that filled with area with choking black smoke.

PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said 99 passengers and eight crew members were on board the Airbus A320. There was no word on the fate of those on board or whether anyone on the ground was injured or killed.
Check out playback of flight PK8303 from Lahore to Karachi on Flightradar24. https://www.flightradar24.com/data/f...k8303#248bafd0
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-...h-jet-22068916

[Evan]

https://www.jetphotos.com/info/A32X-2274

[ErezS]

A Pakistan International Airlines plane disappeared from radar and crashed in a residential area near Karachi Airport while the Airbus A320 was on its final approach from Lahore after the pilot reportedly notified authorities of a technical fault.

Many casualties are feared after a plane carrying more than 100 passengers and crew crashed into houses shortly after the captain reportedly notified air traffic control of a technical fault.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) jet was on its final approach to Karachi Airport when it went down in a residential area near Model Colony and disappeared from radar shortly before it was due to land.

A number of houses were damaged or destroyed and a major rescue operation was underway to save any survivors amid a huge fire that filled with area with choking black smoke.

PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said 99 passengers and eight crew members were on board the Airbus A320. There was no word on the fate of those on board or whether anyone on the ground was injured or killed.
Check out playback of flight PK8303 from Lahore to Karachi on Flightradar24. https://www.flightradar24.com/data/f...k8303#248bafd0
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-...h-jet-22068916

[Evan]

A PIA Pakistan International Airlines A320-200, registration AP-BLD performing flight PK-8303 from Lahore to Karachi (Pakistan) with 90 passengers and 8 crew, had aborted the approach to Karachi due to problems with extension of the landing gear and performed a go around. While on second final approach the crew declared Mayday repeatedly reporting they had lost both engines.

Both engines? Fuel? Wrong engine shut down?

[flashcrash]

Some video of the scene on the ground here.

[Evan]

Another photo purported to be PK8303 after the go-around. No gear. Clean configuration. RAT deployed.

And what appears to be some serious fluid leakage on both nacelles.

Note the bird.

[Evan]

Updated:

A PIA Pakistan International Airlines A320-200, registration AP-BLD performing flight PK-8303 from Lahore to Karachi (Pakistan) with 90 passengers and 8 crew, had aborted the approach to Karachi due to problems with extension of the nose landing gear and performed a go around. While on a left downwind for a second approach to runway 25L, about abeam the threshold of runway 25L the crew requested to turn left immediately reporting they had lost both engines and repeatedly declaring Mayday about 5 minutes after the go around, the RAT (RAM Aír Turbine) deployed.

The gear extension is driven by the green system on the #1 engine driven pump. That might indicate an issue with the #1 engine. (The green system can also be powered by the yellow system PTU but running the PTU continuously can cause an overheat and the logic has since been changed to inhibit the PTU below 1500 ft). However, the report only indicates a nose gear issue, so perhaps that issue is not related to the loss of engines.

PK-8803 requested an immediate turn while abeam the runway, meaning a tight, 180deg at low airspeed with no thrust available. We know what that can lead to.

Fuel starvation makes no sense if the plane were legally fueled. Fuel contamination however...

Flights had just resumed in Pakistan after a two-month grounding. That could be a factor.

Updated update: Simon determined the previously posted photo with gear and flaps deployed was not taken on the day of the accident.

[flashcrash]

Another photo purported to be PK8303 after the go-around. No gear. Clean configuration. RAT deployed.

Flaps?

[xspeedy]

Video of the craft going down. Sounds like engines were out.

https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=C1MJ3_1590157626

https://www.liveleak.com/view?t=u5vDK_1590165084

[flyingphilnewson]

The RAT - Ram Air Turbine - is also deployed in the picture.

The picture also seems to show damage to the undersides of both engines... almost like they were scraped on the ground during a gear up landing.. there are some reports that the first approach ended in a wheels up landing and go-around... although this does not seem credible.. also that they were having trouble extending the nose gear. All pure speculation.
Amazingly there are some confirmed survivors.

[3WE]

...there are some reports that the first approach ended in a wheels up landing and go-around... although this does not seem credible...

The photograph would tend to lend credibility...

Perhaps you mean "shocking" that there would be a go-around after a wheels-up landing...

[Evan]

The picture also seems to show damage to the undersides of both engines... almost like they were scraped on the ground during a gear up landing.. there are some reports that the first approach ended in a wheels up landing and go-around... although this does not seem credible..

This past month it seems that the most incredible story will become the one most widely believed. It's bewildering. It blows my mind how naive people have become.

- A ground strike would strip off the paint, exposing the primer and metal or composite structure. It would not appear black like that.
- Once down on the engine nacelles, I think it would be quite impossible to return to flight. There is tremendous friction and very little room to rotate without a tail strike.
- Once down on the nacelles, a pilot would have to be insane to attempt to regain flight. For one thing, the fuse pins holding the engine pod on the wing might have been damaged and they might fall off in flight. The engine fans themselves would likely be damaged. Accelerating toward the end of the runway in this state, if even possible, would be suicidal.
- A momentary contact followed by a bounce and a go-around is the most I could imagine, in a sort of science fiction/Hollywood plot convenience kind of way.
- (SEE: the last scene of 'Airplane')

Attached is a photo of the accident plane on an earlier date. Notice the black streaks along the bottom on the engine nacelles. It appears to be from fluids or dirt exiting around the fan cowling. The photo of the plane just before the crash appears to have a more pronounced version of this, so perhaps there was a maintenance issue behind this.

As per the data released by FlightRadar, a flight monitoring site, PIA flight PK 8303 took off from Lahore 1:05 PM (Pak timing). At 2:34 PM, the aircraft made a landing attempt that was aborted at 275 feet and the aircraft climbed up to 3175 feet. Signal was lost at 02:40 at 525 feet.

[Evan]

This engine wasn't powered on impact:

[exswissair]

Not sure if this was posted before:https://youtu.be/YuXv1e68Pq0

[Gabriel]

Evan, what would the control laws be in a scenario of double engine failure and associated system failures (engine-driven hydro pumps, engine-driven generators)?

I would guess nothing of this would affect the flight control computers which I assume would be powered by the essential bus and hence keep working even if just on battery, and the same would apply to the sensors, IT communication channels, side-stick, etc... so I don;t see a reason to lose normal law. But that's just a guess.

Asking because in the video of the previous post the plane seems very stable descending at a high AoA. The fact that the plane doesn't fall out of the sky makes me think that it was not stalled, which in turn makes me think that they were sustainedly pulling up and were limited to alpha-max by the control law.