ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Two Americans, one Austrian and a Pakistani Christian airhostess, identified as Naheed Bhatti, 27, where among the dead today (Wednesday, July 28, 2010), when an Airblue Airbus-320 plane crashed near to Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Rescue workers picking through the wreckage of the worst plane crash in Pakistan's history

There were no survivors amongst the 152 persons onboard, including 146 passengers and six crewmembers, when the plane, flying from Karachi to Islamabad, crashed during bad weather into the Margalla Hills at 9:49 a.m. today.

It was Pakistan�s worst plane crash.

Rescue operations were severely hindered because of the rainy weather and the location of the crash -- on top of one of the cliffs of Damn-e-Koh in the Margalla Hills -- which was highly inaccessible to rescue teams.

�Several rescue teams started their journey on foot to the plane crash site and were horrified to find pieces of human bodies scattered as they came closer to the site,� said one media report.

Among the dead was a Pakistani national Christian air-hostess, government officials, including the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Interior Ministry of Pakistan, told ANS.

According to Airblue sources, the AB-320 passenger plane was being flown by a 65-year-old Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) retired pilot with 25 years of experience. The sources added that plane had arrived in Karachi after a nine hour flight from Turkey and at 0750 hrs (Pakistan Time) it resumed its flight towards Islamabad.

The flight reached Islamabad at 0935 hrs with its 152 passengers, as well as First Officer, Muntajib-ud-Din, and the PIA retired pilot, Pervez Iqbal Chaudhary.

The other staff of the plane included air-hostesses, Umm-e-Habiba, Shazia Razzaq, Hina Usman, Javeriya (who was flying but was not on duty) and the Christian air-hostess.

The mother of the Christian air-hostess, Naheed Bhatti, told ANS through an anonymous source that when her daughter had left in the "early hours of the morning" for her duty on-board the flight, while she -- the mother -- was still sleeping and the deceased, Bhatti had called her several times to tell her that she was getting ready to leave.

The heartbroken mother added that did not �wake up� and instead her husband, and Naheed�s father, �made her breakfast and boiled an egg for her.�

Scene as the horrendous crash

She told ANS that she �regretted� that she was �tired� and therefore �could not wake up,� but she added that before her daughter left, she gave her a good-bye kiss on her forehead and hugged her father. �She left never to return,� she added as she wept inconsolably.

The Daily Times of Pakistan reported that Naheed Bhatti had �joined the airliner some two-and-a-half years ago and was one of the main financial supporters of her family since she belonged to a low-income family and her father was still working as a male nurse.�

The story went on to say, �Her younger sister Sana Bhatti said the family was planning Naheed�s marriage by next year. Naheed had a BSc degree and a nursing diploma.�

Now back to the details of the horrific crash, ANS has learned that due to heavy rain and thick fog, the control tower, according to CAA authorities, had directed the plane to go onto Lahore. Sources said that the control tower twice intimidated that the plane was in �grave danger,� but the ill-fated plane still tried to land at Islamabad.

ANS has learned that control tower officials stated that they radioed the first warning to Airblue that they were �very far from the runway� but in response the pilot said he could see the runway clearly.

Control tower officials said they aired another warning, because on the radar the plane was flying low and over the speed at 9.5 nautical miles with landing gears open whereas it was supposed to be flying at 5 nautical miles while flying over Islamabad airport.

The control tower officials also said that at 09:42:30 hours they communicated the last time with the plane and then it disappeared from the radar as well as vanished in the thick clouds.

At 09:44 hrs it was confirmed that plane had crashed into the Margalla Hills, killing all 152 onboard. At the time of crash, the height of the plane was 1,000 feet when collided head on with the Margalla Hills and its parts were scattered within the radius of 200 meters [656.17 feet].

Through reliable Karachi Airport sources, ANS learnt that there were a total number of 159 passengers to be boarded, but due to unknown reasons several passengers missed the flight and they were the fortunate ones.

Pakistan�s Interior Affairs Minister, Rehman Malik, said that the plane crash would be investigated by all aspects, adding, element of terrorism could not be ruled out.

Abdul Zaman Kaira, another government minister, announced reimbursement of Pakistani Rs. 500,000.00 (USD $5837.71) �per head for those killed in the crash.�

Kaira also said that �due to the rain, fog, land-sliding and slippery soil� the rescuers had to trudge through the �mud and muck� to get to the scene of the crash.

Pakistan Army, Navy and Air Force helicopters took a hand in part in the rescue operation but they could save any of the passengers or crew, and they had the terrible task of bringing down �sacks full� of bodies and body parts. At nighttime, the operation was halted because of the conditions.

The identity of the each passenger would be established after DNA tests and �their body parts would be put together,� said Abdul Rehman Kaira.

At the time of writing, more than 139 dead bodies have been taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences [PIMS] Hospital in Islamabad, said Kaira.

Jawad Mazhar is a Pakistani journalist specializing in writing about Christian persecution. He was born on November 28, 1976 at Sargodha's village Chak and raised in Sargodha, a city in Pakistan�s Punjab province. He earned his Bachelors Degree from Allama Iqbal Open University majoring in computer sciences and has taught at various educational institutes in his country. He is also involved with �Rays of Development,� an organization working for minority rights in Pakistan. He says, �My aim is to help eradicate Christian persecution through my writing as I bring the plight of these brave people under the spotlight of the whole world.�