PIA plane crash: Families of flight PK-8303 victims receive Rs1 million

KARACHI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Wednesday said it has started to pay compensation to the families of the Karachi plane crash victims.

According to a spokesperson of the national flag bearer, families of 82 victims of the ill-fated flight have been given Rs1 million while the two girls who were injured in the plane crash have been provided Rs500,000 each.

PIA flight PK-8303 suffered a tragic air crash in Karachi last month, killing 97 people on board while two passengers survived miraculously.

During the ill-fated flight, the pilots made a first landing attempt and the plane briefly touched the ground multiple times, before attempting to land for a second time.

Separately, the federal government last month had announced it would bear the expenses to compensate Model Colony residents whose houses and cars were damaged when the plane crashed inside the locality.

The PK-8303 tragedy has become the third most-catastrophic aviation disaster in the country's history.

PIA pilot violated landing protocol: CAA

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in a report issued on Tuesday had alleged the pilot of the PIA plane had violated landing protocols.

According to the report, the pilot disregarded air traffic control's (ATC) direction to lower the altitude.

In his letter to the general manager (safety), the additional director of flight operations has stated the plane's altitude and speed were higher than the required limit for landing. The ATC had cautioned the pilot twice but he disregarded the warning.

Experts say the pilots likely tried to land the Airbus without lowering the wheels, damaging both engines so badly they soon failed.