Karachi PIA plane crash: Investigation board head removed mid-investigation

• Air Commodore Usman Ghani was leading the investigation into the Karachi PIA plane crash.
  
• He retired from the Pakistan Air Force on December 31 at the end of his term.
• Last year in May, PIA flight PK-8303 had crashed in a residential area near Karachi's Jinnah International Airport a few moments before landing.
  

---

Air Commodore Usman Ghani, the head of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board, which was investigating the Pakistan International Airlines plane crash in Karachi, has been removed from office.

Air Commodore Ghani retired from the Pakistan Air Force on December 31 at the end of his term.

Read more: SHC grills PIA for not wrapping up 2016 crash investigation report

Experts have expressed doubts over his removal before the ongoing investigation into the plane crash is completed.

Karachi PIA plane crash

Last year in May, PIA flight PK-8303 had crashed in a residential area near Karachi's Jinnah International Airport a few moments before landing.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, the flight from Lahore was about to land in Karachi when it crashed in the Jinnah Garden area near Model Colony in Malir.

Read more: PIA Havelian air crash report says pilot not to blame for tragedy

Ninety-nine people were aboard the plane, including 85 passengers, of which two passengers miraculously survived the incident.

Preliminary investigation report holds pilots responsible

Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan had presented the interim investigation report on the PIA plane crash in the National Assembly in June 2020, saying that the pilots were not focused and their lack of concentration caused the crash.

Presenting the initial investigation report on the floor of the House, Sarwar had said that the conversation between the pilot and the air traffic controllers had been recorded and he had heard it himself. 

Speaking about the aircraft, Sarwar said that no technical fault could be found in it. “Because of the coronavirus, flights had been suspended. The plane took the first flight after operations resumed on May 7 and between then and May 33, the plane completed six flights,” he said.

“Five flights were from Lahore to Karachi and Karachi to Lahore, while one flight was to Sharjah,” the minister told the Parliament. He added that both the captain and his co-pilot were medically fit to fly as well.

“I spoke to one of the survivors and one of them told me that after the plane crashed onto the roof of the house, he was still strapped to his seat while he bounced from one floor of the house to another and was eventually rescued when he landed on the first floor,” he continued.