Cockpit voice recorder of PIA flight PK-8303 still missing: spokesman

The cockpit voice recorder of the ill-fated Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-8303, which crashed in a Karachi neighbourhood on Friday, is still not found, a spokesperson of the airline confirmed Tuesday.

PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan said that hectic efforts were being made to recover the voice recorder from the crash site.

PIA’s Airbus A320 was flying from Lahore to Karachi with 99 people on board when it went down in mid-afternoon while trying a second landing attempt.

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There were two survivors from onboard the aircraft, while no fatalities were reported in the densely populated area of the city where the aircraft crash-landed minutes before touchdown.

The airline spokesperson said that the recorder might have fallen into one of the houses in Model Colony area.

He requested the residents to hand it over to the authorities if they found it in their houses.

“Voice recorder is important for the plane crash inquiry,” Khan said.

He also advised the citizens against keeping anything of the aircraft at their homes as memorial saying this could be dangerous for their safety.

The airline had on Saturday said that the black box of the jetliner was found, which included both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.

Airbus team begins probe

An Airbus team visited the site today where the PK-8303 flight had crashed. The technical team inspected the houses that were damaged by the crash.

The Airbus experts were briefed about the incident by the PIA and fire department officials. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Board team was also present with them to ascertain the situation.

The technical experts studied the remains of the plane and inspected the Jinnah International Airport runway later in the day.