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A leading Pakistani banker is one two passengers who miraculously survived a crash that killed 97 people when a domestic flight ploughed into a residential neighbourhood of Karachi.
The internal flight carrying nearly 100 people crashed as it came in to land at Jinnah International Airport after the pilot reported technical problems. Zafar Masud, president of the Bank of Punjab, was pulled free by rescuers and was on Friday night recovering in hospital.
Another passenger, Mohammad Zubair, was being being treated for minor burns and said the plane had started jolting before landing.
“The next moment there was a hard crash and I lost consciousness,” he told Geo News, adding that when he came woke up there was ‘smoke everywhere’.
Officials said late on Friday that 97 people had been killed in the crash. All passengers and crew had been accounted for and the bodies of those killed had been recovered from the crash site, the Sindh Health Ministry said, adding that 19 had been identified.
Local channels reported the plane hit the ground tail first. A passenger listing showed Mr Masud seated in the front row, Mr Zubair in the eighth row.
The pilot of the Pakistan International Airlines flight was heard issuing a mayday call and warning he had lost power from both engines seconds before the Airbus A320 crashed.
The internal flight from Lahore to Pakistan's largest city was carrying 91 passengers and eight crew when it ploughed into houses in the Model Colony district.
The pilot reported a technical fault as he came in to land and then set off to circle back and make another approach.
One official told the Telegraph it appeared the landing gear on the two engine jet had failed, but it was too early to know for certain.
A recording of the pilot's final exchange with air traffic control, posted on the website LiveATC.net, indicated he had failed to land and was circling around to make another attempt.
"We are proceeding direct, sir - we have lost engine," a pilot said. "Confirm your attempt on belly," the air traffic controller said, offering a runway.
"Sir - mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday Pakistan 8303," the pilot said before the transmission ended.
Air Marshal Arshad Malik, chief executive of the national carrier, confirmed that the pilot had said there was a technical fault with the aircraft.
"The pilot was told that both runways were ready for him to land. However, the pilot decided to do a go-around. Why did he do that, due to what technical reason, that we will find out," he said.
Up to 20 houses were damaged in the poor neighbourhood of Model town, local officials said.
Video showed wreckage strewn across streets and rooftops and plumes of smoke rising from fires. Many of the dead and injured were badly burned.
Pakistan had only days earlier resumed domestic flights after planes had been grounded for two months in a precaution to halt the spread of coronavirus.
The crash happened with large numbers of Pakistanis returning home for the Eid festivities imminent at the end of the Ramadan month of fasting.
Airworthiness documents showed the plane last received a government check on November 1, 2019. PIA's chief engineer signed a separate certificate April 28 saying all maintenance had been conducted. It said "the aircraft is fully airworthy and meets all the safety" standards, AP reported.
The plane entered service with China Eastern Airlines in 2004 and then joined PIA's fleet in 2014.
PIA suffered another deadly crash four years ago, when 47 people died after an aircraft smashed into a mountainside in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in 2016.
The country's worst plane disaster was in 2010, when an AirBlue flight crashed near Islamabad, killing 152 people.
PIA once held itself as one of the world's leading airlines, but its fortunes have sunk in recent decades and its reputation been tarnished by delays, cancellations and financial trouble.
The airline, founded in 1946, suffered as many as 51 safety-related incidents before Friday’s crash, according to data from Aviation Safety Network.
Pakistan's prime minister, Imran Khan, said he was shocked and saddened by the crash and an immediate investigation would be held.