Pakistan plane crash in May 2020 blamed on human error'

The investigative report on the event states that “human error” by the two pilots caused the Pakistan International Airlines jet disaster that killed 101 people in May 2020 near the Jinnah International Airport here.

The Airbus 320 crashed into a residential zone close to the airport rather than making a safe landing at the Karachi airport, according to the report that the Aircraft Investigation Board (AIB) eventually made public.

The board determined that the primary cause of the deadly disaster, in which 101 people—99 of them passengers—died and two of them miraculously survived—was the two pilots’ lack of sound judgement during the landing.

The accident left parked cars and a number of nearby residences completely wrecked or damaged.

The report said the air traffic controller had four times warned the pilots that they shouldn’t land as their altitude was not right.

According to the report, when the pilots first tried to land the aircraft, its engines hit the ground, which led to the system supplying lubricant to the engines shutting down. The report said that engine failure eventually led to the crash.

The report also held the PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority responsible for not having clear procedures on whether pilots should fast during the month of Ramadan while on duty.

The AIB also noted that after the engine failure, the power supply went off in the aircraft and the last four minutes of the flight were not recorded on the data box. The pilots have also been held responsible for not being in sync with each other when trying to land the plane.

Airworthiness documents show that the Airbus A320 had been previously used by China Eastern Airlines from 2004 to 2014, following which it was inducted into the PIA’s fleet.

There have been eight recorded incidents of the PIA aircraft crashes between 1965 and 2020.