Source: Reuters
(Adds details, background)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzLeQ1iZCks
By Faisal Aziz
KARACHI, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A small plane with 21 people on board chartered to international oil company ENI
The aircraft, a Beech 1900C twin-engine turboprop operated by the private JS Air, crashed inside a military ordnance compound close to Karachi's Jinnah International Airport.
JS Air spokesman Nadeem Hanif said 17 ENI passengers were onboard, along with two pilots, a technician and a security guard.
Italian oil company ENI, one of the largest foreign producers in Pakistan's energy sector, said in a statement in Milan that 15 of its passengers were ENI employees while the two worked for a contractor.
Neither company gave details of the nationalities of the dead, but the Italian Foreign Office in Rome said one Italian was killed. Aviation officials in Karachi had earlier said there was at least one foreigner on board. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For Pakistan stories [ID:nAFPAK]
Or see link here: http://link.reuters.com/kac58m
Pakistan blog: http://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
Pervez George, a spokesman for Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority, said the aircraft was en route to an oil field near Bhit Shah in Sindh province, some 190 km (118 miles) northeast of Karachi and crashed due to a technical fault soon after take-off.
George told Reuters.
"When it took off, just after one minute, the pilot contacted the control tower saying that there was a fault in one of the engines. He was asked to return, but as it was turning back, it crashed,"
The aircraft split into two after crashing into an open area inside the boundary of the military's Central Ordnance Depot in Karachi, and caught fire. (Additional reporting by Mian Khursheed and Zeeshan Haider in ISLAMABAD and Stephen Jewkes in MILAN) (For more Reuters coverage of Pakistan, see: http://www.reuters.com/places/pakistan)
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Private plane crashes in Karachi, 21 dead
Rescuers and airport security personnel gather at aircraft crash site in Karachi on November 5, 2010. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has ordered an inquiry into the crash of a small private aircraft in Karachi, in which 21 passengers and crew on board were killed on Friday morning.
A spokesman of CAA has said that the investigation team will be headed by Air Commodore Khawaja Abdul Majeed.
A small plane belonging to Jahangir Siddiqui (JS) Air took off from Jinnah International Airport and crashed near Pehelwan Goth shortly after take-off, near a residential and military area in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar suburb in Karachi.
Express 24/7 correspondent Shehryar Mirza reported two pilots were among the dead. CAA stated that 21 people were on board the plane when it crashed, and that one security guard and one technician are among the dead.
Mirza said all 21 bodies have been pulled out of the aircraft and that rescue teams have been dispatched to the site of the crash. The bodies are charred beyond recognition, and 17 bodies have been shifted to the Aga Khan University Hospital, while the rest have been shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and Liquat National Hospital.
“The plane has been totally gutted and there are no survivors,” Lieutenant Colonel Noor Alam told reporters. The plane was believed to be carrying about 20 people, mostly Pakistanis, he said, adding that bodies have not yet been identified.
Talking to Express 24/7, CAA spokesperson Pervaiz George confirmed that the plane is a JS Air aircraft, which took off from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi at 7:13 am for Bhitshah.
Technical failure may be reason behind crash
George said the plane crashed due to possible engine failure, as the control tower received reports from the pilot that there was a problem after take-off, after which the pilot was told to land back at the airport. He said that the plane had been cleared for take off prior to the crash.
Sources say the aircraft had not been cleared for take-off two days prior to the crash as it had technical problems and needed repairs, but took off despite the warning. A JS Air spokesperson confirmed that the black box of the aircraft has been recovered.
An eyewitness said the plane turned back towards the airport shortly after take-off, after which it fell to the ground and burst into flames.
JS spokesperson Nadeem Hanif told Express 24/7 that the American aircraft was a reliable one, saying it was “airworthy and fit to take this flight”.
“The technical team will investigate the fault,” he said, adding that heirs of the crash victims have been notified of the tragedy.
A company official in Karachi told AFP the plane was chartered by ENI, an Italian multinational oil company, and was carrying its employees. Mirza told Express 24/7 that one of the passengers was a foreign national.
JS Air plane details
The aircraft’s make is Beech 1900-C and was manufactured in 1990 and 1991. The aircrafts are being acquired from Raytheon of United States, who is also the manufacturers of Beechcraft.
It has standard accommodation of flight crew of two plus standard passenger accommodation for 19.
The passenger list given to Mirza by CAA is as follows:
Captain Naeem
Captain Numan
Ashiq Ali
Imran Khan
Salem Khokhar
Amir Saeed
Salman Khan
Ali Khan
Husain
Mohammad Aslam
Arshan Ali
Qamar Habib
Israr Khan
Ghulam Mustafa
Zafar Iqbal
Dr Saeed
Nisar Ahmed
Hasan
Manzoor
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21 perish in Karachi plane crash
Rescuers and airport security personnel gather at aircraft crash site in Karachi on November 5, 2010. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI: A twin-engine aircraft carrying 21 people crashed in the military’s central ordnance depot area near Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport on Friday shortly after takeoff at 7.13 am. There were no survivors.
Fifteen of the passengers were employees of an Italian oil and gas exploration company, ENI. The employees, including one Italian citizen, were on their way to work at the Bhit Shah gas field in Sindh’s Jamshoro district. Two other passengers were contractors with ENI.
The company identified them as Altaf Hussain Khalid, Hussain Sadaqat, Jamali Nisar Ahmed, Khan Noor, Moazzam Saeed, Nadeem Ahmed, Nizamani Muhammad Azam, Rafique Sajid, Rana Muhammad Alam, Raza Amir, Saleemuddin, Sasso Antonio (Italian), Shah Iqbal Hussain, Siddique Shahid, Syed Anwar Imran, Syed Irshad Ali and Tahir Muhammad.
ENI had chartered the private airliner, JSAir, owned by the Jehangir Siddiqui Group of Companies, under a contract it signed in July 2007.
Three crew members of JSAir, including Chief Pilot (and general manager operations) Captain Naeemul Haq, First Officer Captain Muhammad Nauman Shamsi and flight technician Tariq Mehmood were also killed in the ill-fated flight. An Airport Security Force (ASF) sub-inspector Zafar Iqbal was also on board the flight.
According to JSAir manager Javedul Haque, the 19-seater airplane, Beechcraft 1900, had no safety or maintenance issues and was fit to fly before the accident occurred. “It was on a routine flight and many times the same aircraft had been flown without any problems,” he said.
Haque said the pilots were also very experienced with many flying hours under their belt. The 53-year-old chief pilot was a former squadron leader with the Pakistan Air Force and had over 6,000 flying hours. He was also looking after the flight safety matters of the company as Flight Safety Officer. Meanwhile, 35-year-old Captain Nauman had 800 hours of flying experience.
According to Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson Pervez George, an inquiry committee has been formed to investigate the incident. The team comprises four members, including Safety Investigation Board’s Air Commodore Khwaja Abdul Majeed, Group Captain Mujahid Islam, Sardar Illyas and Dr Afzal Boghio.
Experts from the US-based company that manufactured the plane, Hawker Beechcraft, and international aviation companies are expected to be part of the investigation, George said.
Investigators have found the black box located at the tail end of the aircraft, which will provide important clues as to why the crash happened.
Initial reports, however, suggest that one of the engines malfunctioned on takeoff. George says the pilot informed the control tower and was directed to return to the airport immediately. But when the aircraft took a sharp turn to head back, there was immense pressure on the other engine and it failed as well. It crashed just one nautical mile away from the airport.
CEO ENI Paolo Scaroni and COO Claudio Descalzi are flying to Pakistan to meet with the victims’ families.
Captain Hassam, who was a friend of the deceased co-pilot Nauman, says that it is not unusual for airplanes such as the Beechcraft to have an engine failure. He cautioned the investigators against blaming the pilots and urged that the inquiry report of this incident and all other such accidents be made public.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2010.
I am very sorry to write these few lines for my best friend syed Iqbal Ahmed Naqvi (assistant engineer in that company). Iqbal was younger brother of my classfellow Dr. Syed Nisar Ahmed Naqvi of Mirpur mathelo sindh. Very Cute, Handsome and intellegent boy. In young age he got that position at Multinational company. Shaheed Iqbal Naqvis dead body was almost intact when Nisar received from Edhi dead body house. Because he was a very religious and very kind person GOD kept intact his body for identification. Unfortunetly in Edhi home there is a no full facility to preserve dead body, even thopugh edhi is very honest and good person. May Allah give the families of the deceased courage to bear the loss and grant Jannat to the ones who lost their lives in the ill fateful incident. May Allah rest the soul of every deceaced in Jannat.
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UPDATE 2-Cargo plane crashes in Karachi residential area27 Nov 2010
Source: reuters // Reuters
(Adds details of crash site, witness quote)
By Faisal Aziz
KARACHI, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A plane carrying eight people crashed early on Sunday in a residential area of Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, setting buildings on fire.
Provincial Health Minister Sagheer Ahmed told Reuters three bodies were recovered. Express 24/7 television said 10 people were killed.
The Civil Aviation Authority said the plane went down after taking off from Karachi airport.
Spokesman Pervez George said it was a Russian-built cargo aircraft bound for Sudan.
The plane hit a building under construction at a navy housing complex. Several unoccupied buildings nearby caught fire. Rescue workers and fought a huge blaze.
Nisar Ali was sitting at his home with friends about one km away. "At first we thought it was a flare and then we ran to the area and realised it was a crash," he said.
On Nov. 5 a small plane chartered to an international oil company crashed after taking off from Karachi airport, killing all 21 people on board.
A Pakistani passenger plane crashed in heavy rain near Islamabad in July, killing all 152 on board, Pakistan's worst aviation accident. (Reporting by Faisal Aziz; editing by Andrew Dobbie)
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Iraqi drilling firm starts work in Zubair oilfield
Sun May 15, 2011 1:13pm
BASRA, Iraq May 15 (Reuters) - State-run Iraqi Drilling Co has started working in the Zubair oil field under a $250 million contract to drill 23 new wells in the field, developed by Italy's ENI (ENI.MI: Quote), the head of the firm said on Sunday. Director Idrees al-Yassiri said the two-year contract also included overhauling 63 old wells in Zubair.
"We have started executing the contract awarded to us by ENI ... The total expected production after completing the project will be more than 250,000 barrels per day from these wells," Yassiri said during a trip to Zubair oilfield.
ENI, U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY.N: Quote) and South Korea's KOGAS (036460.KS: Quote) signed a 20-year deal with Iraq to develop Zubair. They set an eventual output target of 1.2 million barrels per day. The Iraqi company has also floated a tender to purchase five drilling towers and has invited foreign companies to bid, Yassiri said, without giving further details.
Iraq has signed a series of deals with international oil firms to develop its vast oil reserves in a bid to boost output potential to 12 million bpd from around 2.7 million bpd now. (Reporting by Aref Mohammed; Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by David Holmes)
© Thomson Reuters 2011 All rights reserved
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE74E0CA20110515
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