Karachi:
Five years have passed since the PK-8303 flight of Pakistan International Airlines crashed near the Karachi Jinnaah International Airport, claiming 97 lives and leaving behind heartbreaking stories of survival and loss.
On May 22, 2020, in the midst of the relieved restrictions of COVID-19, Flight PK-8303 took off from Lahore for Karachi with 91 passengers and 8 members of the on-board crew, many who were heading home to celebrate EID-UM-FIT. However, the plane never reached its destination safely.
According to official findings, the plane tried to land at Jinnah Terminal, but its landing train was not deployed. Both engines repeatedly scraped the track during the first landing attempt, which caused the sparks to fly. Instead of executing a belly landing, the pilot opted for a return, a decision that finally was fatal.
In the final moments, the captain issued a call from Mayday. The recordings of the cabin and flight data revealed that the crew violated the standard descent protocols near Nawabshah and Makli, maintaining higher altitude and speed of what was advised during the approach.
The Airbus A320, which weighed 80 tons, separated and crashed in the residential area of Jinnah Garden densely populated. The thunderous noise of the collapse metal, the fall pieces and the fuel in erupting painted a apocalypse scene.
One of the few survivors on the ground, Sohail Asghar, told traumatic moments to Express PAkGazette.
In that fateful Friday afternoon, shortly after offering Jumuah prayers, he had just sitting in his car parked away from his home to make occupies by Iftar.
The engine had just begun and the door remained open when he heard a sinister roar, a routine and growl sound unlike everything he had heard. He panicked and unable to understand what was happening, Asghar threw himself into a small garden patch next to his house.
Seconds later, the flame fragments, the heavy pieces of the airplanes and the fuel for boiling reaction began to rain from the sky. “Everything was burning. The alley was wrapped in thick and black smoke. My screams probably drowned in chaos,” he said.
Without being seen for him, two young neighbors had noticed as much before leaving. Upon hearing the accident, they rushed through the smoke and dragged him inside his house.
Rescue officials were finally alerted, and Asghar was transferred to the hospital. He remained under treatment for almost eight months.
Even today, says Asghar, it is difficult for him to visit that memory again. He no longer lives in Jinnah Garden, having moved after the trauma became unbearable.
