A plane crash that killed 97 people in Pakistan in May was caused by human error, according to an initial report of the incident.
Both the pilot and air traffic control failed to follow protocol, the report into the crash found. Pakistani Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told parliament that the pilots were also distracted by their conversation about the coronavirus, which was affecting their families at the time.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK8303 smoothly departed from Lahore on May 22 before violently losing control during its descent into Karachi.
The plane crashed in a residential area known as Model Colony and destroyed 18 homes. Only two passengers survived.
Khan said while nothing was mechanically wrong with the Airbus A320, the pilots failed to properly deploy the landing gear on its initial pass of the Jinnah International Airport, causing the plane to scrape the runway before taking off again.
Air traffic controllers then failed to inform the pilot that the engines had been left badly damaged as the plane prepared to attempt to land for a second time.
"When the control tower asked him to increase the plane's height, the pilot said 'I'll manage.' There was overconfidence," Khan said.
The minister also announced a "restructuring" of the PIA and the release of a full investigative report in one year.
Experts from Pakistan and France are currently undertaking a comprehensive fact-finding mission on the crash.
In a telephone interview from his hospital bed, Zubair, one of only two survivors, told The Associated Press that he survived by launching himself from the burning aircraft.
"I saw so much smoke and fire," he said. "I heard people crying, children crying."
