Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 was a scheduled domestic flight from Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore to Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan. On May 22, 2020, the Airbus A320 crashed in Model Colony, a densely populated residential area of Karachi only a few kilometres from the runway, while on a second approach after a failed landing. Of the 91 passengers and 8 crew on board the aircraft, 97 were killed, and two passengers survived with injuries. Eight people on the ground were also injured in the accident, one of whom later succumbed to their injuries.

Flight
The crashed aircraft was an Airbus A320-214, built in 2004, with manufacturer's serial number 2274, and owned by GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS). It made its maiden flight on 17 August 2004 and was leased to China Eastern Airlines as B-6017 between 2004 and 2014. It was then leased to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) by GECAS on 31 October 2014, with registration AP-BLD. It was powered by CFM56-5B4/P engines, which were most recently installed in February and May 2019.The landing gear was installed in October 2014 and was next due for major servicing or replacement after 10 years in 2024.

The PIA's engineering department reported that the last routine maintenance check on the plane was conducted on 21 March 2020, and the most comprehensive check was last performed on 19 October 2019, during which no defects were found in its engines, landing gear or avionics. From 22 March to 7 May 2020, the plane had remained grounded owing to flight cancellations amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. From 7 May onward, the plane had conducted six flights. The Civil Aviation Authority had declared the aircraft fit for flight until 5 November. The plane had operated a flight from Muscat to Lahore on the day prior to the accident. The aircraft had logged 47,124 flight hours.

Accident
The flight, piloted by captain Sajjad Gul and first officer Usman Azam,took off from Lahore at 13:05. and was near the end of its 90-minute journey, when it crashed at around 14:45 (09:45 UTC( into the densely-populated neighborhood of Model Colony around 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) from the airport. The aircraft's wings were reported as being on fire in the moments before the plane crashed into rooftops. The crash damaged buildings in the area, some of which caught fire. The crash was captured on video by a CCTV camera on the roof of one of these buildings (this building was further away from the crash site and not damaged), which shows the aircraft just before crashing into the neighborhood.

The aircraft initially made an aborted landing attempt, apparently with the landing gear not deployed. One of the pilots subsequently radioed air traffic control (ATC) reporting landing gear issues and the failure of both engines. ATC confirmed to the pilot that he was cleared to use either of the airport's two runways, requesting, "Confirm your attempt on belly?"According to PIA's CEO, Arshad Malik, a technical fault prompted the aircraft to make a go-around rather than land, even though both runways were available. One of the pilots told the controller, "we are returning back, sir, we have lost engines." Twelve seconds later, one of the pilots declared a mayday, which was the final communication with the aircraft.

According to officials from Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), complications had arisen during the aircraft's first descent. The landing gear was still in the retracted position when the aircraft attempted its first landing. Friction marks on the runway suggested there had been some ground contact; at the runway's 1,400-metre (4,500 ft) mark, the plane's left engine is believed to have scraped the runway; at the 1,700-metre (5,500 ft) mark, the right engine made contact. When the pilot went around, it is believed damage had already been caused to both engines from this contact, leading to engine failure after the go-around. This made it impossible for the aircraft to maintain altitude, causing it to crash during its return to the airfield. This is supported by the conversation between the aircraft and air traffic control which indicates that the aircraft was constantly losing altitude. Observers noted that the plane's backup ram air turbine (RAT) was deployed, the purpose of which is to supply power to the aeroplane's control systems when both engines have failed and without the auxiliary power unit (APU) running.

The Economic Times, an Indian publication, reported that the pilots had ignored warnings from air traffic control about the height and speed of the aircraft on approach. At 14:30 the plane was 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) from Karachi, at Makli, flying at an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,000 m) instead of the recommended 7,000 feet (2,100 m), when ATC issued its first warning to reduce altitude. Instead of descending, one of the pilots responded by saying that he was satisfied with the descent profile. When only 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) from the airport, the aircraft was at an altitude of 7,000 feet instead of 3,000 feet (910 m). ATC issued a second instruction to turn to descend. One of the pilots responded again by stating that he was satisfied and able to handle the situation, and that he was prepared for landing. The pilot had a flying experience of 18,000 flight hours.

Victims
Pakistan International Airlines released details of the flight manifest which shows 91 passengers (51 men, 31 women, and 9 children); there were also eight crew members. The death toll was confirmed as 97, consisting solely of those on board the plane but later one of those injured on the ground died. One of the passengers was an American citizen. The Pakistani model and actress Zara Abid was one of the flight's passengers. Five officers from the Pakistan Army and one from the Pakistan Air Force were also among the victims.

Meeran Yousaf, the spokesman of Sindh Health Department, has said eight residents of the Model Colony were injured in the crash and most victims' corpses had suffered burns. Most of the injured were women and children. Faisal Edhi said 25–30 people were hospitalized, mostly due to burns. Ten days after the accident, one of the injured residents, a child maid, died in the hospital due to burn injuries.

DNA testing was used to identify some of the victims. As of 10 June 2020, 95 people have been identified, per Federal Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwa