I woke up to really sad news this morning.
On Wednesday, an Airblue plane flying from Karachi crashed in Islamabad’s Margalla Hills. According to the NY Times, “Rescue helicopters fought against thick smoke and flames as they tried to find survivors amid the wreckage — about a two-hour drive into the hills above Islamabad — but hours after the crash, Pakistani officials said that none of the 146 passengers or 6 crew members had survived.”
Among the 152 people killed, news agencies report that six were members of Youth Parliament Pakistan and the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said two Americans had been on the flight. For the full passenger list, see here. Dawn in its coverage also included the number for the Crisis Management Cell, for more information regarding passengers who were on board the plane: 051-9211223-4.
So what caused the plane crash? Raheel Ahmed, a spokesman for Airblue told reporters, “Apparently the cause of the crash is bad weather, but we leave that to the investigators.” Al Jazeera correspondent Kamaal Hyder further reported, “Visibility was very poor… Questions are now pointing at why the airplane would try and land considering weather conditions were so bad. What will be critical is finding the black box which will give the final moments of the cockpit conversation that will give better clues into what happened.”
What exactly is a “black box,” you ask? According to HowStuffWorks, investigators generally turn to the airplane’s flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) for answers on how the plane crashed. Costing between $10,000 and $15,000 (not sure if Pakistani airlines get similar models), these black boxes reveal details of the events immediately preceding the accident. According to Dawn, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) told reporters that this black box has been recovered, so details surrounding the crash will presumably be released soon, (though GEO reports that Pakistan actually lacks the “facility” to decipher these gadgets).
According to the Wall Street Journal, Airblue was established in 2004 by Pakistan businessman and politician Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was a former chairman of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in the 1990s. The airline “has quickly grown in to the nation’s number two carrier,” with 1.4 million passengers in its 2006-2007 fiscal year compared to PIA’s five million. The WSJ included an interesting angle in its coverage, noting that Pakistan’s airline industry “has expanded rapidly in recent years to cater to a growing middle class.” The expansion resulted in safety concerns which led to the European Union partially banning PIA from flying in EU airspace in 2007. This was soon after a PIA Fokker F-27 aircraft crashed in June 2006 after taking off from the city of Multan, killing all 45 people on board. According to the news agency, “That was the last major air crash in Pakistan.”
The tragedy of today of course is expressed in the images and videos of the victims’ families and friends, who swarmed the hospital and ticket counters at Islamabad’s airport this morning desperately seeking information about their loved ones. The office of PM Yousaf Raza Gilani said in a statement that the federal cabinet has declared today a “national day of mourning” for the victims of Airblue flight ED202. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those who lost their lives today.
According to GEO (thanks Mehreen & Alishba on Twitter for the tip), Pakistan DOES NOT HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY to decipher the black box!
http://www.geo.tv/7-28-2010/69111.htm
“Useful information regarding the incident was expected from the record. It is important to mention here that there was no facility in Pakistan to decode the information from the box.”
Ummm! How do we not know how to decipher this?
We can decipher, cheat, decode Microsoft, Adobe, Apple – you name it. But a Black Box? Sorry mate, we are too damn dumb to advance when it comes to saving people’s lives. Or too damn selfish to do so (business v/s human life).
http://tribune.com.pk/story/31981/caa-submits-initial-report-pilot-to-tower-recording-disclosed/
This made me really sad too 😦
Read this: http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/03-islamabad-airport-not-an-easy-destination-to-fly-into-ss-08
I felt really sad all day when I heard about the plane crash. The Media was no help as they came up with conflicting stories about the origin of the flight, survivors etc. Some of them were really insensitive about it as well as they were trying to interview the family members of victims. I have never felt so bad in my life. It was even more sad reading about the stories of the victim’s family members.
My cousin told me that he heard the plane when he was getting ready for work. He said it was making a weird throttling sound.
The sad thing is that a dozen conspiracy theories are going to pop up. Everyone’s favorite Nut Zaid Hamid has already made a sick statement about the plane crash which I dont want to share here.
I pray for the souls of all those people who died up there. May they rest in peace.
I was pretty appalled to hear about the media coverage of the plane crash – news agencies were showing mutilated bodies and interviewing the victims family members right after, as shobz noted.
Where is the sensitivity or even the journalistic integrity in reporting on disasters and tragedies of this magnitude? Is our sensitivity chip just missing that an event that should inspire grief and respect for the victims instead devolves into a media circus and conspiracy theories? It is ridiculous.
(Also see Ahsan’s post and Cafe Pyala’s:
http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/fiverupees/can-t-catch-a-break
http://cafepyala.blogspot.com/2010/07/disastrous-reporting.html)
[…] amid the wreckage — about a two-hour drive into the hills […] Read more at: CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan al jazeera, bad weather, black boxes, civil aviation authority, cockpit voice recorder, flight […]
@Kalsoom, Mehreen and Alishba: It’s misleading to state that Pakistan doesn’t have the technology to check the black box data. There is no civilian facility to do this, but the military has several facilities across the country that have the expertise to do this. The CAA has already confirmed that the black box will (unless it already has been) be handed over to the air force. Plus Airbus have also said that their engineers and investigators will be arrriving shortly to assist, as is the case with aircraft manufacturers after every crash involving their company’s planes.
And on that note, if you’re going to bash Geo et al for their absolutely appalling coverage (and rightly so!), then also don’t lose perspective based on a report from the same source that there’s no facility in Pakistan to decode a black box. They’ve been wrong every step of the way today, only to correct themselves later.
Saleem,
We were citing the GEO report that made that statement, not making grand conjectures on our own. But I completely agree with you that if we’re going to lambast GEO, then definitely take all their stories into perspective.
Thanks for your points about the military having the knowledge to decipher the black box, it was informative. What do you think they’ll find out in your opinion?
Given that this is a very well-designed plane with an excellent service history, this accident is very confusing. Further, this isn’t the first time that there’s been bad weather over Islamabad. I’ve spoken to three pilots who’ve done go-arounds in the same loop over Islamabad in bad weather and that too in PIA’s old 747-200s with far less sophisticated instrumentation than the A321.
I really don’t know what they’ll find. My biggest fear, though, is that unlike other countries, where black box data as well as comm chatter is made public, the CAA and airblue will attempt to stifle information. For example, we don’t know if Islamabad tower asked the plane to descend too quickly or guided it into the wrong loop. We don’t know if the pilot tried to improvise against tower instructions. We don’t even know if it was an engine/airframe issue that prevented the pilot from throttling up and gaining altitude near the hills; or failed instrumentation that displayed incorrect bearings/altitude.
Update: Have spoken with CAA and they’re saying that the consensus is to send the black box to Airbus’ facilities in either Lyon or Hamburg for analysis, as they would prefer the manufacturer to handle it.
Thanks for the info (esp the below update)!
It’s extremely depressing to witness yet another tragedy hit our country. It’s even more heart-wrenching to hear and read the stories pouring in of lives and loved ones lost.
Let us pray that Allah grant peace to those suffering and that He may grant a place in heaven to those lost on ED202.
Hi Kals,
One of the six youth parliamentarian is actually a friend of mine. He missed the flight and thankfully, thankfully did not board the plane. He is alive and well, though of course devastated because 5 of his other friends were on it. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families who have lost their loved ones.
S,
I’m glad your friend is ok – it’s so tragic because many people I know knew someone or knew someone connected to another person on the plane. And today with all the floods – it’s just one tragedy after another. 😦
A real tragedy. My heart goes out to all the victims & their friends and families. Innalilahi wa innalilayhi rajaoon.
S,
You mentioned one of the six youth parliamentarians (your friend) dod not board the place and is alive and well. However, today Dawn reported that all six perished and relseased their names: “…‘Youth Prime Minister’ Hasan Javed, ‘Information Minister’ Syeda Rabab Zehra Naqvi, ‘Minister for Culture and Sports’ Prem Chand, ‘Shadow Youth Minister for Information’ Bilal Jamaee, ‘Member of Youth Parliament’s Standing Committee on Information’ Owais bin Laiq and ‘Member of Youth Parliament’s Standing Committee on Information Syed Arsalan Ahmad.”
So is this more mis-information from the media, or was your friend supposed to be the 7th parliamentarian?
“…did not board the plane…”
Sorry I was typing in a hurry!
Kalsoom,
You mention that “According to Dawn, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) told reporters that this black box has been recovered…”
However this morning I read on Dawn.com that “Investigators spent a third day searching Friday for the black box…”
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/03-search-for-black-box-continues-at-margalla-hills-ss-01
Its amazing how disjointed our sources of information can be!
Hi,
Sorry – I just read this. Yes, he was the 7th parliamentarian. He initially told me five of his friends were on the plane, so I thought he was the sixth. But he was the seventh; he missed his flight though because of some other work.
ps – his name was on the initial list but was subsequently removed.
[…] Lakhani at CHUP-Changing Up Pakistan mourned the tragic incident: The tragedy of today of course is expressed in the images and videos of the victims’ families […]
My cousin told me that he heard the plane when he was getting ready for work. He said it was making a weird throttling sound.