The plane, carrying 127
people, crashed Friday in Islamabad just before it was to land at a
nearby airport, according to Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority, which
cited poor weather as a possible factor.
At least 120 bodies have been recovered from the scene, Interior Minister A Rehman Malik said. No survivors have been found.
"In the morning we will
start to search by helicopters," Malik said overnight, adding that
officials could not bring in helicopters on Friday due to bad weather.
The Bhoja Air Boeing 737-200 was en route from Karachi to Islamabad, where the weather was cloudy, officials said.
Malik said family members in Karachi are being flown in to help identify the victims.
Relatives and
fingerprints have already helped identify the remains of 73 people taken
to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dr. Wasim Khawaja said.
Identifying all the
bodies -- many of which lie in pieces -- will be challenging, Malik
said. He said he hoped DNA technology will help in the process.
From what he's seen, "I don't see any survivor here -- all 127 people seem to be dead," the interior minister said.
The crash occurred near
the Chaklala airbase, a military site used by the country's air force,
which is adjacent to the Benazir Bhutto International Airport in
Islamabad.
Debris and body parts
were scattered across the crash site as workers sifted through the
wreckage in the heavily populated residential area. Four villages were
affected by the crash, and debris from the plane has been recovered
within a kilometer of the site, Malik told reporters.
More than a 150 bags
filled with body parts have been transported to hospitals across the
region, according to Farkhand Iqbal, a municipal official in Islamabad.
Malik said he is ready
to launch a security probe through the Federal Investigation Agency in
case the Civil Aviation Authority's investigation shows evidence of any
security breaches. He also said Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has
ordered a "high-powered investigation."
Head of Bhoja Air,
Farooq Omar Bhoja, has been put on an exit control list, meaning he can
leave the country without government clearance, he said.
The flight data
recorder, which is considered a key component in determining what may
have caused the tragedy, was recovered, officials said Friday.
The Bhoja airliner had
been flying from the southern seaport city of Karachi and crashed just
before touching down in the capital after its 3½-hour flight.
Weather reports indicated that conditions in the area included thunderstorms and limited visibility.
Authorities are
examining what may have caused the crash and the potential for
additional casualties at the site of the wreckage.
Investigators are "going
to be looking at technology," aviation security consultant Greg Feith
said. "What kind of radio equipment, what kind of ground proximity
warning system the aircraft was equipped with, weather radar, things
like that ... since the weather may be a factor in this accident."
Pakistani Prime Minister
Yusuf Raza Gilani on Friday expressed "deep shock and grief over the
tragedy," ordering his country's Civil Aviation Authority "to gear up
all its resources for rescue operation," state media reported.
A separate inquiry into
the incident has been launched by Pakistan's Safety Investigation Board,
and two crisis operation rooms have been set up at airports in both
Islamabad and Karachi to provide information to the affected families.
A Boeing spokeswoman
said the American manufacturer "stands ready to provide technical
assistance to the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan."
The airliner was originally sold in 1985, Julie O'Donnell said.
Comair, a South African
airline, said in a statement Saturday that it operated the plane under
the British Airways brand from 1996 until late 2011.
"The aircraft was
retired due to it being too uneconomical for Comair to operate because
of its small seat capacity and high fuel consumption," said Comair
spokeswoman Nicola Nel. "It was sold to Jet Aviation in Dubai who leased
it on to Bhoja Air at the end of 2011. The aircraft was sold in a
serviceable condition."
Responding to
allegations that the aircraft was not in good condition to fly, Defense
Secretary Nargis Sethi told a local television station that the
government has initiated "an immediate investigation."
"Whether it was 10, 8 years old, or not airworthy, is something that we can't confirm yet," Sethi said.
But Bhoja Air station
manager Zahid Bangish told a Pakistani television station later Friday
that the "aircraft was new, not the old one and unairworthy."
The crash is reminiscent
of one in 2010, when 152 people were killed as a Pakistani passenger
plane crashed on the outskirts of Islamabad. That plane was also was
coming from Karachi when it crashed into a hillside while trying to
land, officials said at the time.
Four years earlier, another airliner crashed in central Pakistan, leaving 45 dead.
The first known
commercial passenger airplane crash occurred in Pakistan in 1953 when a
Canadian Pacific DH-106 Comet crashed shortly after takeoff from
Karachi. That crash killed 11 people on board.
Source: CNN News
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