Two Americans among dead in Pakistan's worst air crash

ISLAMABAD — Two Americans were among the 152 passengers and crew members who died Wednesday when an Airbus A321 operated by a Pakistani carrier crashed amid heavy rain into the hills that surround the capital, Islamabad. It was the worst air crash in Pakistani aviation history.

Hours after the crash, Pakistani officials said none of the 146 passengers or six crew members had survived.

As of late Wednesday, when rescue work was suspended until the morning, 115 bodies had been recovered, federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said. DNA tests would be needed to identify most of them, he said.

President Obama confirmed two Americans had been on the flight and expressed condolences to the families and friends of all who died. A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Islamabad said no details about the Americans would be released until the next of kin were informed.

Officials said cockpit recorders and the bodies of the pilots had been found. The plane, a 10-year-old Airbus A321 operated by a relatively new Pakistani airline, Airblue, was flying to Islamabad from Karachi.

In a country where terrorist activity has been rising, officials said they had not ruled out the possibility of an attack. But the more immediate focus was the weather.

Hashim Raza Garvaizi, a captain for Pakistan International Airlines, told GEO television another flight had been diverted from the Islamabad airport because of rain and fog 30 minutes before the Airblue flight crashed. Garvaizi said he knew the pilot and he had an impeccable record.

Express TV reported the pilot received a warning that he was flying away from the runway.

The pilot responded, "I can see the runway."

In a second exchange, the dispatcher advised, "Immediately turn left, Margalla are ahead," referring to foothills of the Himalayas north of Islamabad.

The pilot responded, "We can see it," according to Express TV.

An Airblue official identified one of the pilots as Pervaiz Iqbal Chaudhry and said he had more than 25,000 flying hours over a 35-year career.

Grieving relatives gathered at Islamabad's Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, where remains were brought.

"Everybody has to go sometime, but if you see the body, at least you'd get some peace," said Muhammad Shakeel Bhinder, who was there in place of a co-worker who was too distraught to go.

His colleague, Habibullah Dumki, lost his wife and three young children on the flight.

The crash was the first fatal crash for Airblue, which began operating in 2004, according to a Flight Safety Foundation database.

Airbus said the twin-engine plane was built in 2000 and leased to Airblue in 2006, and it had made about 13,500 flights. Airblue said the plane had no history of problems.

Material from McClatchy Newspapers and The Associated Press is included in this report.