Nope.. pilot error can do just that, Chaklala has only one runway (20) equipped with ILS, and that is on a northbound approach..
Now if there is another aircraft using that runway or for some other reason they shut it down.. the technique is for the pilot to shoot the ILS till he sees the airfield and reports to the tower that he is in sight..something that did happen. Once that is done.. he does what is called a circular final. Basically he breaks off at a 90 degree angle before the airfield to give himself separation and then makes a curved left handed approach to the other runway. Usually, in clear skies this maneuver is carried out well above the Margalla hills. In this case with bad weather the pilot decided to keep below the cloud base, however.. not only did he come too low.. he seemed to be fixated on keeping the runway in sight, since the aircraft is in continuous turn banking maybe 20 to 30 degrees, it gets fairly difficult for even the first-officer to spot anything meaningful out of the window.. and on this flight the FO was a nugget. So most likely he did not have a clue( and with such a senior pilot.. he would not dare exert an opinion).
Also, what is surprising in this case is that the 321 is a very VERY safe jet, with almost everything included to prevent such mistakes, did the pilot not hear the Terrain avoidance system when he got too close? and considering that eye witness confirm the jet very very low over F-7.. the cockpit should have been blaring away warnings.. did he choose to ignore them??
ISLAMABD has only one runway with the biggest disadvantage that it hasnt got any parallel taxi track. The stack loads of planes that we generally see on many other international airports where planes are landing behind another in short span, is NOT possible at Islamabd airport.
When
runway 30 is in use ( that most of the time is), after landing the big airliners go to the end of runway...then they back track from there and continue taxi back while remaining on the main runway and clear via Alpha (A) taxi track....once they are clear , only then the other aircraft can land...From landing , then taxi back all the way to A link, takes a lot of time ....it becomes a real pain in butt during heavy traffic periods....imagine you are number 4 in the sequence...you have to wait for 20 minutes....Had there been a parallel runway , they aircrafts could vacate the runway a minute after landing..Making runway available for the succeeding traffic.....It is another reason that we need a new airport with better infrastructure and improved runway layout.....
When there is excessive tailwind for runway 30, then the
Runway 12 is used....For runway 12 landings, the pilot still comes for runway 30 and breaks off to right at point A...Once at point B, he turns left to parallel himself with the runway while keeping runway in sight all the time...When at point C, a 90 left turn is executed and short of point D , again a left turn and the pilot aligns his aircraft with the runway 12 and makes the landing......after landing, he goes till the end of runway, makes a clockwise turn back and clears the runway via a Alpha link....
Intially, i also came to the same conclusion but the timing of this crash in backdrop of various political issues e.g. cameron remarks, followed by hamid karzai remarks, wiki leaks, fake degrees, denying various court rulings, issuing visa to 400 americans plus more.
I dont think that there is any international or national conspiracy involved in this crash . Till now it looks a case of CFIT (controlled flight into terrain). Questions still loom that,
Why aircraft deviated so much from its course?
Why did the aircraft descend below the approach parameters?
The pilots had to fly the prescribed pattern while keeping the runway in sight all the time. In case they lose sight of runway, then they were supposed to break off the approach and climb to safe altitude or else divert to alternate airfield, Lahore in this case.
Were the pilots not visual with the runway? If not, then why they deviated from approach?
What were the pressures that did not let the Captain to decide to divert to Lahore? Why he pressed on despite deteriorated conditions at Islamabad.
Did captain ignore the GPWS ( ground proximity warning system) or was it unserviceable from the start ?
There are lot of questions that comes to ones mind. More than black box, i think it will be CVR ( cockpit voice recorder) that will help to answer many questions....
What were Captain and First officer discussing in cockpit with each other ?
What was Captains response to ATCs instructions?
Did First officer warn/ advised Captain about losing the visual contact with runway ?
Were all instructions deliberately ignored by Captain ?
Till the time we dont have the CVR conversation, no one can be sure that what was going on in the cockpit minutes before impact. Till then we can all assume whatever we know in our capacity....But one thing is for sure that no one could have seen it comming. The aircraft was likely in clouds when the impact happend.
Allah may have mercy on all the departed souls.
