Pakistan plane crash: Voice recorder recovered from debris days after 97 passengers and crew killed

A voice recorder has been recovered from the wreckage of a Pakistani airliner that crashed last week killing almost everyone on board.

The cockpit device was retrieved six days after the plane went down in a crowded neighbourhood just outside the city of Karachi, leaving 97 passengers and crew dead.

It was recovered from among debris and handed over to Airbus experts.

Aviation authorities in the country said they were sharing their initial findings with the visiting 11-member team from the European plane maker.

The other part of the black box, a flight data recorder, was recovered within hours of the crash.

But the cockpit voice recorder had been missing since the plane crashed into a residential area near Jinnah International Airport last Friday.

Only two people survived the Airbus A320 crash, which was carrying 91 passengers and eight crew members.

Abdullah Hafeez Khan, a spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines, said the recovery of the cockpit voice recorder was a significant development as it would play an important role in the investigation of the crash.

Pakistan’s aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told reporters on Thursday that a preliminary report on the incident, along with reports on other crashes in recent years, would be presented to the country's parliament on June 22, following a decision by prime minister Imran Khan to release all reports on past plane crashes.

Initial reports have said the plane crashed after an apparent engine failure.

The so-called black box is made up of two components: the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder.

Technical experts will review both recorders to determine what caused the crash, which took place just days after Pakistan resumed domestic flights.

The plane was only half full, with every other seat left empty as part of measures to follow social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A transmission of the pilot’s final exchange with air traffic control, posted on the website LiveATC.net, indicates there was a failed landing attempt and that the plane was circling to make another attempt when it went down.

The inquiry report into the crash is expected to be completed within three months.

Its findings will be presented to Parliament, Mr Khan said.

Read more

Survivor of Pakistan plane tragedy tells of 'turbulence' before crash