Crash probe to assess if Pakistani airliner dragged engines on runway in landing attempt

A Pakistani-led investigation into a deadly air crash Friday will examine whether the jet’s engines were damaged in an aborted first landing, causing a loss of power when the plane circled around for a second landing, officials familiar with the probe said. Initial evidence suggests the engines of the PIA jet made contact with the runway in Karachi when the pilot attempted to land without landing gear deployed, the officials said. Marks on the runway indicate the engines were dragged along it, while flight-altitude data and eyewitness accounts say that the plane took off again, they said. The Airbus A320 never made it back to the runway, striking a residential building near the Karachi airport. The crash killed all but two of the 99 people on board and injured several on the ground. CE Arshad Malik has declined to comment on the cause of the crash until he sees the findings of the full investigation, which are supposed to be delivered within three months. The “black box” flight-data recorder was found Friday, but the voice recorder hasn’t been located. The investigation is expected to get technical assistance from Airbus, and the engine manufacturer CFM. “This will be a totally free and fair inquiry,” Ghulam Sarwar Khan, the aviation minister, said Saturday. “There will be action against whoever is held responsible.” The investigation team is composed of three air force personnel and one representative of the industry regulator. Imran Narejo, of the Pakistan Airline Pilots Association, questioned the independence of the inquiry, criticizing the absence of a commercial pilot or international experts.<br/>