The pilot of the ill-fated Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane made mayday calls at least twice, revealed the last conversation between the pilot and the control tower on Monday.
The first call was made when the engine of the PK-661 plane failed while the other call was about the emergency landing.
At the start of the conversation, the control tower informs the pilots about the distance to Islamabad airport. Then a pilot informs the control tower about the position of the plane. The plane’s altitude at that time was 70,000 feet.
Later in the conversation, the control tower repeatedly seeks response from the pilots. However, no one responds. After a while, a pilot makes a mayday call.
The pilot tells the control tower that one of the engines has failed and 47 passengers are on board. The control tower responds that runway-3 of the Islamabad airport is clear for zero landing.
However, no response is achieved from the plane from this point despite several calls from the control tower.
The PIA plane carrying 47 people on a domestic flight crashed earlier this month from the mountainous northern city of Chitral to Islamabad, killing all on board.
The plane took off from Chitral around 3:50pm and PIA said the plane crashed at 1642 local time (1142 GMT) in the Havelian area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, about 125 km north of Islamabad.
According to PIA management, the pilot Captain Salehyar Janjua declared an emergency at 4:14PM and, minutes later, the plane vanished from radar.