Airblue Plane Crash Kills 152

A service operated by Airblue, a private carrier in Pakistan that operates domestic and international flights, crashed on Wednesday en route to Islamabad, the capital, from Karachi amid rainy weather. The aircraft was carrying 6 crew and 146 passenger when it crashed, leaving all of them dead.

The plane plunged in Margalla Hills, which is a heavily-forested area just north of Islamabad. Pictures taken of the wreckage show fire and smoke rising from the scene while rescue workers struggled for several hours to get there. According to reports, they were able to account for everyone on the plane by the end of their search operation on Wednesday night, but they failed to find any survivors.

Benazir Bhutto International Airport air traffic controllers have been reported by officials to have told the flight’s pilots on their final approach to divert the aircraft due to rain and cloud cover. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has suggested that there may have been some confusion, however. This is a tragic incident, but it’s too soon to say what caused the crash. A full investigation has been launched, he added.

Experts have wondered if the controllers and pilots followed the right procedures, as the wreckage is positioned to show that the aircraft was pushed past the margins of safety. However, according to reports that contact between the plane and airport was lost, it’s very likely that the pilot didn’t get the diversion warning. The block box will be able to shine some light on exactly what happened when it’s found and examined.