Pakistan Asks Residents to Hand Over Wreckage From Crashed Jet

(Bloomberg) -- Authorities in Pakistan are urging local residents to hand over wreckage from an Airbus SE jet that crashed on Friday killing 97 people as investigators hunt for a cockpit voice recorder crucial to probing the accident.

It’s possible that people may have removed some debris, according to a spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines Corp., which operated the plane. Conversations between pilots are key to discovering how and why the A320 came down in a residential area of Karachi. The flight data recorder, with details of the jet’s path and mechanical systems, has already been retrieved.

Separately, Pakistan’s The News reported that the pilots ignored repeated warnings about the aircraft’s altitude and speed as it approached Karachi airport for landing, and sought to touch down without deploying landing gear.

The plane crashed on its second bid to land. Both engines scratched the runway three times before the captain aborted the first attempt and sought permission to have another try, the publication said, citing a communication from the air traffic controller to Pakistan’s Air Investigation Board.

A Pakistan International spokesman declined to comment on “incomplete information.” An Airbus spokesman referred queries to Pakistani authorities.

The plane, en route from the eastern city of Lahore, smashed into cars and homes in a narrow lane near the airport in the nation’s commercial hub, setting them on fire, television footage showed. It wasn’t clear why the landing gear wasn’t deployed before the first attempt to land, and why pilots chose to add power and lift off again, a maneuver known as a go-around.

People flocked to the crash site before rescue workers and investigators could get there, raising the possibility that someone may have inadvertently picked up pieces of debris as a souvenir. Teams from France’s Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses, Airbus and engine-maker Safran SA arrived in the South Asian nation on Tuesday to probe the incident.

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