Pakistan Airlines plane touched down without landing gear before Karachi crash that killed 97 people, baffling experts

‘It is unbelievable to me that an airline crew on a jet like an Airbus, with all the warning systems, would attempt to land the plane without the gear extended,’ one expert said

Search teams on Thursday recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage, and that may yet provide answers about initial aborted landing

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Pakistani security personnel amid the wreckage of the plane that crashed in Karachi. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:08pm, 28 May 2020Updated: 6:17pm, 28 May 2020

Last week’s deadly plane crash in Pakistan has raised questions about how the crew could touch down without landing gear when their sophisticated jetliner was brimming with equipment to prevent pilots doing just that.

After an abrupt descent that had unnerved air traffic controllers, the pilots of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) jet last week briefly put the aircraft on the runway without the landing gear, grinding along on its two engines at a speed of more than 327km/h, according to preliminary data.

The pilots aborted the landing attempt, climbing back into the sky, but reported shortly afterward they had lost power. The Airbus SE A320 apparently glided into a neighbourhood as pilots were attempting to return to the same runway, killing 97 of 99 people aboard. Search teams on Thursday recovered the cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage, and that may yet provide answers.

“It is unbelievable to me that an airline crew on a jet like an Airbus, with all the warning systems, would attempt to land the plane without the gear extended,” said John Cox, an aviation safety consultant who formerly flew the A320 as a US airline pilot.

In addition to checklists designed to make sure pilots don’t attempt to touch down without the landing gear, the jetliner has multiple warning systems designed to alert crews if they somehow forget or the gear are not working.

“The aeroplane is not happy that you’re this close to the ground without the gear extended,” said Cox, who is president of consulting company Safety Operating Systems.