Shehri TV – Pakistan News, Current Affairs, Entertainment

  By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The families of the victims of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK 8303, which had crashed in Karachi earlier this year, have condemned the highhandedness from the concerned authorities while seeking justice. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Imran Khan, dated September 22, 2020, whose copy was circulated on social media, some of the affected families have reported having been humiliated at every place where they have gone to seek entitlement during the past four months.  Members of the affected families had also held a media conference at the Karachi Press Club a few months ago to bring to light their sufferings at the hands of the concerned departments when receiving the bodies of their loved ones. It may be recalled that the PIA’s scheduled domestic flight from Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore to Jinnah International Airport in Karachi had crashed just before landing in the de...

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), on August 24, is reported to have signed the construction contract of the main runway upgrading project of Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore, with a joint venture led by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).  The main works of this project include refurbishing the runway and upgrading the drainage ditch and avionics system.  According to an official of the CCECC, advance techniques and professional experts will be deployed into the upgrading so that the condition of Allama Iqbal International Airport will be improved significantly.  The implementation of the project will further expand external connectivity window of nation. Meanwhile, it is also expected to promote local employment and economic development as well.  The question to be asked, however, is that if the PIA was mandated to carry out repair, ma...

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services)  All debris of PIA crashed plane, of what turned out to be a Herculean task, was finally completed on June 10. In the final phase the A-320 engine was lifted from the site of the crashed plane in Karachi’s densely populated area of Model Colony.  It may be recalled that on May 22, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight 8303, while flying from Lahore, crashed minutes away from the Jinnah International Terminal in Karachi, killing all but two out of 99 passengers on board. One of the lucky survivors was a senior executive officer of a private bank.  The final task of removing all debris was completed on June 10 after 19 days of the crash as all the damaged parts of the ill-fated aircraft were transported to a site allocated near Karachi airport.  The Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA), during the next couple of days, is expected to commence the assessment of the damage caus...

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) The government has put all arrangements in place to bring back more Pakistani students from China on board national flag carrier.  The PIA Special flight PK-8872 to leave Wuhan to Islamabad on June 5 to bring back home 300 students, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced.  These students have remained stranded for five months in Wuhan, the epicenter of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  This is going to be the second batch of Pakistani students from Wuhan returning home. Earlier on May 18 the first batch of Pakistani students were repatriated by PIA’s special flight that departed from Tianhe Airport Wuhan on board 274 returning Pakistani students from Wuhan in Hubei province to Islamabad.

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) It was a big sigh of relief for the relatives as well as the investigation team of the May 22 PIA plane crash as the Cockpit Voice Recorder, the most important component that could greatly help in the probe, was finally retrieved by the authorities on May 28. It took as many as six days after the plane had crashed in Karachi to locate the recorder from the debris, with the assistance of the Airbus investigation team.  According to PIA spokesman, the Airbus investigation team had resumed its task to salvage the Cockpit Voice Recorder on May 28 and finally it succeeded after removal of big parts of the plane with the help of heavy cranes. The Cockpit Voice Recorder has been handed over to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board.  The PIA spokesman added that the airline team made all out efforts for the recovery of the Cockpit Voice Recorder, deemed to be one of the most important components that could help greatly ...

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan, Yao Jing, through a video session, extended Eid greeting to all Muslim overseas and the Chinese living in Pakistan besides offering condolences on PIA plane crash. The participants included the top officials of the Rawalpindi Chinese Association, the Gilgit-Baltistan Chinese Association, the Pakistan Chinese Youth Overseas Chinese Association and the Pakistan Overseas Chinese Association. Ambassador Yao Jing introduced the relevant situation of China-Pakistan anti-epidemic cooperation.  He pointed out that in the early stage of China’s epidemic prevention and control, Pakistan had actively donated anti-epidemic materials to China.  “After the outbreak epidemic in Pakistan, China donated a large volume of anti-epidemic materials to Pakistan and sent a number of anti-epidemic medical expert groups to assist Pakistan in anti-epidemic drive,” he narrated.  “The two countries have...

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services)   The cockpit voice recorder of the crashed PIA plane has yet not been recovered from the debris scattered on narrow lanes of the crash site located in the Karachi’s densely populated area of Model Colony in the close proximity of airport.  The black box of the plane, which crashed on May 22, has however been retrieved and sent to the Airbus headquarters in France for decoding, the aviation sources disclosed.  A spokesman of the national carrier has appealed to the people that if they found any part of the crashed plane they should handover the same to the concerned authorities.  The 11-member Airbus investigating team, having reached Karachi, will resume their investigation by visiting the crash site on May 27.  The French team, on May 26, inspected the damaged houses, debris and the runway which the captain of the ill-fated plane, Sajjad Gul, reportedly used for an abortive landing. The team checked...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services)  Queen Elizabeth II has offered condolences to Pakistan and families of those having died in the PIA plane crash in Karachi on May 22. “Prince Philip and I have been saddened by the news of the plane crash near Karachi on Friday (May 22). We send our most sincere condolences to you, the families and friends of those who died, and to the Pakistani people, particularly at the time of Eid,” Queen Elizabeth wrote.  The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, and the British High Commissioner, Christian Turner, were also grieved by the tragic PK8303 plane crash in Karachi.  “I’m deeply saddened to hear of the plane crash and loss of life in Karachi and my thoughts are with all those affected in this terrible tragedy,” Dominic Raab remarked in his message. “Thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones. The British High Commission was in touch with local authorities to establish if any Britons were on board,...

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Sindh health department announced on May 24 that as many as 34 bodies of PIA crashed airplane have been identified and all of them handed over to their respective families.  Meanwhile the provincial minister for health and population welfare, Dr Azra Pechuho, said that Sindh has its own forensic/genome laboratory at Karachi University where the DNA sampling of all unidentified plan crash victims was being carried out.  “We also have another laboratory at the Liaquat University in Jamshoro which has the capacity of conducting the DNA sampling,” she added.

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) A technical team of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has been entrusted with the responsibility of the identification of victims of PIA plane crash in Karachi through thumb impression.  An announcement from the NADRA authorities revealed that most of the deaths, in the PIA plane crash at Karachi on May 22, were caused due to severe fire and their bodies were difficult to identify.  The NADRA team had promptly started undertaking its task as they took thumb impression of three victims on the spot. Out of three, they had identified two of them, the announcement said.

By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) According to the final plane crash figures provided by the Sindh health department late on May 22, only two persons survived and the remaining 97 were confirmed to have died. Sajjad Gul was the pilot of the plane while Usman Azam was the first officer. Farid Ahmed Chaudhary, Abdul Qayyum Ashraf, Malik Irfan Rafiq, Madeeha Erum, Amna Irfan and Asma Shahzadi were the other members of the crew on board.  There were a total of 99 people on board the unfortunate PIA flight which crashed into houses near the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. The only two survivors were Zafar Masud and Muhammad Zubair.  The department officials revealed that 66 bodies were brought to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) while the remaining 31 were taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK). Only 19 of the 97 bodies could be identified.  The media coordinators of the department continued updating the information of casualties ...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) Many international leaders took to social media to express their shock and grief as the news of the plane crash in Karachi on May 22 spread like wildfire.  The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, offered condolences, saying that Canadians were keeping Pakistanis in their thoughts.  “The news from Pakistan this morning is devastating. To the families and friends of those who lost their lives in the crash of PK 8303, and to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy, our hearts go out to you. Canadians are keeping you in our thoughts today,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle.  The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, also expressed his condolences over the tragic incident, tweeting: “Deeply saddened by the loss of life due to a plane crash in Pakistan. Our condolences to the families of the deceased, and wishing speedy recovery to those injured.”  The Afghanistan President, Ashraf Ghani, tweeted...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane which was coming from Lahore crashed in Karachi on May 22 with 98 people on board which included seven crew members.  Flight PK 8303 went down at Jinnah Garden in Model Colony, a residential area in the vicinity of the Jinnah International Airport as the Airbus A-320 plane, carrying 91 passengers and seven crew members, was approaching the runway.  According to the initial report released by the Sindh health department, 66 people were confirmed to have died as a result of the tragic incident while the list shared by the airlines mentioned that there were 51 men, 31 women and nine children aboard the aircraft.  The airline officials stated that the pilot had reported technical issues while the witnesses said that the aircraft, flying from Lahore, attempted to land two or three times before hitting a mobile tower and crashing into houses of the densely populated resi...

By Masood Sattar Khan (Pakistan News & Features Services) China declared on May 22 to be standing by Pakistan side in the time of Sadness following passenger plane crashed in Karachi.  “We have learned with heavy heart that a PIA plane crashed close to Karachi Airport,” the Chinese embassy at Islamabad said in a statement.  “Our hearts go out to all families who lost their loved one today,” the statement added.  Meanwhile, both electronic and print media in China highlighted the plane crash news with heavy heart. There were conflicting reports about the plane crash that had left Lahore for Karachi. The plane was schedule to land around 1430 hours at the Jinnah International Airport where it crashed just a minute before landing.  The initial reports suggested that the crash took place because of the alleged failure of functioning of landing gear as well as being hit by birds to both of aircraft engines.

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The deeply saddened Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Air Marshal Arshad Malik, announced that the ministry of aviation would oversee the inquiry into the PIA plane crash on May 22. Addressing a press conference in Karachi, where the national carrier's afternoon flight, coming from Lahore, crashed just before landing at the Jinnah International Airport, emphatically declared that the aircraft was technically sound.  "The aviation ministry will oversee an inquiry into the incident. We want the inquiry report to be completed as soon as possible but we cannot say when. We do not wish to interfere with the inquiry in any way. We will need two to three days to complete the operation," he said, adding that his team stood with the government of Pakistan, the armed forces, and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).  The PIA chief confirmed that 99 people, including pas...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The PIA Chief has assured the PIA's retired employees  that their pension will be increased in near future' This was disclosed by General Secretary PIA Retired Employees Association  (PIAREA) while addressing the  General Body meeting of the association. He informed the members of some of the PIAREA achievements gained after  a long struggle which included increase in PIA pension in 2013, free medical  facilities for disabled sons/daughters of Retirees, abolition of Federal Excise  Duty (FED) on free tickets to issued to Retirees, extension of medical facilities etc.  He said successful efforts were made against proposed  privatization of PIA, Earlier, he informed that no one will be appointed as Association's office-bearer  for whole of life in future whereas efforts while efforts will continue to seek more facilities for retired employees....

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The Chairman, Election Commission of the PIA Retired Employees Association (PIAREA), Najamul Ghani, has announced the final list of the candidates upon the completion of the election procedure.  According to the notification of the new office bearers of the PIAREA, having been elected unopposed for a term of three years, M Yunus Kakakhel will be the President and Syed Tahir Hasan will be the General Secretary.  Chaudhry Muhammad Azam has elected as the Senior Vice President, Parvez Farid, Muhammad Aslam Malik and Mohammad Khan Sial are the three Vice Presidents while Shaikh Abdul Majeed has been elected as the Organizing Secretary. Abdul Rahman Khilji, Nisar Ahmed and Muhammad Yousuf have been elected to the posts of Finance Secretary, Welfare Secretary and Joint Secretary respectively.  The PIA Retired Employees Association (PIAREA) is a registered body of retired and ex-employees of al...