Pakistan search for black box into third day

Awaz Apni ISLAMABAD: Investigators spent a third day searching Friday for the black box of a Pakistani jet that crashed into Islamabad's hills, killing all 152 people on board, officials said.

The search for human remains has been called off and most bodies handed over to families for burial, police said.

The Airblue passenger jet crashed in a ball of fire in the forested Margalla Hills overlooking the Pakistani capital in heavy rain and poor visibility on Wednesday, while trying to land after flying from Karachi.

"We have recovered remains of all the dead bodies. Now our focus is on the investigation and we are searching for any clue which can help us," senior Islamabad police official Bani Amin told media.

Monsoon rains hampered the search for two days, but aviation experts and other investigators resumed work after the weather cleared on Friday.

Investigators are focusing on the black box as the flight data recorder will provide valuable clues as to why the 10-year-old Airbus 321, which was piloted by an experienced captain, came down.

"Today the investigators are going to the hilltop. The priority is the black box and any other technical clue from the wreckage," Ramzan Sajid, spokesman for the Islamabad city administration official, told media.

Airblue, one of Pakistan's most respected airlines, has been tight-lipped about any possible technical fault or pilot error.

Reports that the pilot was told to take another route were mere speculation, company spokesman Raheel Ahmad told media.

The only deadlier civilian plane crash involving a Pakistani jet occurred when a PIA Airbus A300 crashed into a cloud-covered hillside on approach to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu in 1992, killing 167 people.