Mystery over presence of third person in crashed Pak Airblue jet’s cockpit

ISLAMABAD - Investigations have revealed the possibility of presence of a third person inside the cockpit of the Airblue jet which crashed in the Margala hills on July 28 killing all 152 people on board.

According to sources close to the investigation team probing the fatal air crash, voices apart from those of the pilot and the co-pilot have been detected by investigators from the recordings of the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR)

“The investigators have reportedly heard the voice of a third person in the cockpit of the Airblue jetliner,” The Dawn quoted sources, as saying.

The CVR, which is part of the ‘Black Box’, is a flight recorder used to document the audio environment in the cockpit of an aircraft.

The cockpit voice recordings have also revealed that the pilots were slow to respond after they realised that the aircraft was flying into the terrain.

“Sir, pull up, pull up,” the first officer of the flight is heard screaming moments before the crash.

It is worth mentioning here that a team headed by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general Zafarullah Khan is investigating the possibility of ’sabotage’ in the worst air disaster of the country.

However, Civil Aviation Authority director general Air Commodore (retired) Junaid Amin refused to give any detail regarding reports presence of any third person in the cockpit of the ill-fated aircraft.

“I am not aware of the presence of a third person in the cockpit… you cannot judge from the audio whether there was a third person,” Amin said.

Meanwhile, investigators have ruled out any technical snag in the aircraft at the time of the crash following a detailed study of the Black Box recordings.

The final investigation report may take months to come out. (ANI)