11-member Airbus team reaches Karachi to investigate PIA crash site
Airbus experts continued to examine and collect evidence about the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane crash on May 22 at a residential area in the port city that killed 97 people, it was reported on Thursday.
However, the investigators were still looking for the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the A320 aircraft carrying 99 passengers and crewmembers that crashed in the densely-populated Model Colony while trying to make an emergency landing at the Jinnah International Airport, reports Dawn news.
Only two passengers miraculously survived the accident.
PIA spokesperson Abdullah H. Khan said four more bodies were identified on Wednesday and that a total of 47 bodies had been identified and 43 of them handed over to their relatives for burial.
The 11-member team of Airbus, the manufacturer of the A320 aircraft, had arrived here on Tuesday to offer technical assistance to Pakistani investigators in the PK-8303 crash probe.
The PIA spokesperson said the team of French experts continued their work alongside local investigators of the Aircraft Accident and Investigation Board (AAIB), visited the crash site, and collected evidence.
They reached the scene of the crash on Wednesday morning and spent several hours, after which the investigators visited the airport and inspected some facilities.
Meanwhile, the flight data recorder (FDR) of the ill-fated aircraft was found on the day of the crash.
Both FDR and CVR are the two key components of the ‘black box' of an aircraft.
The PIA spokesperson confirmed to Dawn news that the CVR had not been found till Wednesday evening but efforts were continuing to locate it.
