<p>Investigators scouring the site of a crashed Pakistani airliner found the jet's cockpit voice recorder Thursday and hope it will answer why pilots had failed at an initial landing attempt.</p>.<p>The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane came down among houses on May 22 after both engines failed as it approached Karachi airport, killing 97 people on board. Two passengers survived.</p>.<p>Investigators found the plane's black box flight recorder two days after the crash.</p>.<p>Pakistan's aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said a French-led investigation team would analyse the Airbus A320's recorders.</p>.<p>"We have found the voice recorder and data (black box) recorder, and the French authorities will take them with them," Khan told a press conference.</p>.<p>Questions are swirling over the ill-fated Flight 8303, during which the pilot made an initial landing attempt when the plane briefly made contact with the ground multiple times, before going around for a second attempt.</p>.<p>"It is a million-dollar question as to why the pilot chose to fly back after touching the ground," Khan said.</p>.<p>Experts have raised the possibility pilots had initially tried to land the Airbus without first lowering the wheels.</p>.<p>PIA previously said that air traffic control lost contact with the plane, which was travelling from Lahore, just after the pilot made a desperate mayday call following the failed initial landing attempt.</p>.<p>In that call, he can be heard announcing "we have lost engines", according to an audio recording confirmed by the airline.</p>.<p>On board the aircraft were 91 passengers, six cabin crew and two pilots. There were no fatalities on the ground.</p>.<p>A preliminary crash report was expected to be made public June 22 in a parliamentary session, Khan said.</p>.<p>He added that 12 to 15 houses had been badly damaged in the crash, and that the government would compensate residents for property losses.</p>.<p>Pakistan has a chequered military and civilian aviation safety record, with frequent plane and helicopter crashes over the years.</p>
<p>Investigators scouring the site of a crashed Pakistani airliner found the jet's cockpit voice recorder Thursday and hope it will answer why pilots had failed at an initial landing attempt.</p>.<p>The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane came down among houses on May 22 after both engines failed as it approached Karachi airport, killing 97 people on board. Two passengers survived.</p>.<p>Investigators found the plane's black box flight recorder two days after the crash.</p>.<p>Pakistan's aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said a French-led investigation team would analyse the Airbus A320's recorders.</p>.<p>"We have found the voice recorder and data (black box) recorder, and the French authorities will take them with them," Khan told a press conference.</p>.<p>Questions are swirling over the ill-fated Flight 8303, during which the pilot made an initial landing attempt when the plane briefly made contact with the ground multiple times, before going around for a second attempt.</p>.<p>"It is a million-dollar question as to why the pilot chose to fly back after touching the ground," Khan said.</p>.<p>Experts have raised the possibility pilots had initially tried to land the Airbus without first lowering the wheels.</p>.<p>PIA previously said that air traffic control lost contact with the plane, which was travelling from Lahore, just after the pilot made a desperate mayday call following the failed initial landing attempt.</p>.<p>In that call, he can be heard announcing "we have lost engines", according to an audio recording confirmed by the airline.</p>.<p>On board the aircraft were 91 passengers, six cabin crew and two pilots. There were no fatalities on the ground.</p>.<p>A preliminary crash report was expected to be made public June 22 in a parliamentary session, Khan said.</p>.<p>He added that 12 to 15 houses had been badly damaged in the crash, and that the government would compensate residents for property losses.</p>.<p>Pakistan has a chequered military and civilian aviation safety record, with frequent plane and helicopter crashes over the years.</p>