A charter aircraft carrying staff from an Italian oil company crashed a minute after take-off in Pakistan’s business hub of Karachi yesterday, killing all 21 people on board, including an Italian.
The pilot of the twin engine turboprop operated by Pakistani charter JS Air reported engine trouble then nose dived near a military depot in a Karachi suburb and burst into flames, in an accident blamed on a “technical fault”.
“The plane has been totally gutted and there are no survivors,” Lieutenant Colonel Noor Alam told reporters near the crash site in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.
TV footage showed the aircraft split in two, the front part totally destroyed and the rear section, marked JS Air, torn off alongside two wheels.
“The cause of crash was a technical fault. The pilot reported that one of the engines was not working. Everyone died. There were no survivors,” said Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Pervez George.
The 21 people on board included 20 Pakistanis, although embassies said they were checking to see whether there were any dual nationals.
An official from Italian energy company Eni in Karachi said that the plane had been carrying its employees and that an Italian was among those killed.
The Italian embassy was not immediately reachable for comment, but a diplomatic official also said that one of its nationals was among the dead.
The US-manufactured Beech 1900C aircraft took off from Jinnah International airport at 7.13 a.m. on a 200-kilometre journey to an oil field at Bhit Shah, in the southern province of Sindh.
“The pilot reported engine problem just after take off and was cleared by control tower for immediate landing,” the Civil Aviation Authority said.
“However, the aircraft crashed within a minute approximately one nautical mile from Karachi airport.”
Witnesses were quoted as saying the plane nose dived.
“It caught fire,” Mr Alam told reporters near the crash site.
“The bodies were charred. One of my colleagues on the site literally fainted after seeing the bodies,” he added.
“Soon after they left, they contacted the airport control tower and said there was a problem in one of the engines. The plane was directed to return and soon after it crashed,” said Mr George.
There were 17 passengers, one guard, one technician, the pilot and co-pilot on the doomed aircraft, officials said.
Civil Aviation Authority director Mukhtar Butt said the black box data recorder has been found and that an investigation had been ordered into the crash.
“We are waiting for a report from the air worthiness department which checks the plane before take-off,” Mr Butt said.
A JS Air representative said the pilot was experienced and the Beech 1900C adhered to safety standards. Seventeen Eni employees were on board, he said.
“The plane was well maintained. It was fit to fly, it was fit to operate, it left after getting the necessary clearance,” Captain Nadeem Hanif told Geo TV.
“It is premature to speculate about the nature of the fault.