A Chronology of Major Air Crashes and Incidents in Pakistan Civil Aviation

Preface

As per the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the causes of an aircraft accident or serious incident must be identified to prevent repeated occurrences. ICAO Annex -13 states that the objective of the investigation of an accident or incident is prevention. It also provides the international requirements for the investigation of aircraft accidents/incidents and defines the rights and responsibilities of States of Occurrence, Registry, Operator, Design, and Manufacture.

The ICAO Annex-13 is based on the recommendations of the Accident Investigation Division at its First Session in February 1946, which were further developed at the Division’s Second Session in February 1947. The first edition of Annex 13 was published in 1951; presently, its 10th edition, published in 2010, is being used. ICAO uses the Accident/Incident Data Reporting system that helps contracting states to share and exchange safety information for accident prevention. Pakistan CAA rules 1994 address the subject matter in detail.

The objective of this compilation is to provide a baseline on major air incidents that occurred in Pakistani airspace or on the ground to students of Aviation management and operations for familiarization / further research in their areas of interest, so that they can professionally contribute their services as required.

1947 – 1950s

• On 27th December 1947, an Air India Douglas DC-48, registration VT-AUG, an international scheduled flight from Karachi to Bombay, carrying 19 passengers and 4 crew members, crashed. Ten minutes after takeoff, the aircraft was observed losing altitude over Korangi Creek Cantonment. It crashed with engines under power, poor visibility, and malfunctioning instruments, leading the pilots to lose control and hit the ground at an angle of 30° in a violent side slip to starboard. This was the first airline crash in Pakistan after its independence in 1947.
• On 9th May 1948, a Pakistan Air Force Douglas DC-3, registration APABZ, was on a ferry flight to Pakistan when it met an accident at or near Basra, Iraq. The aircraft ran out of fuel 66 kilometers North-West of Shaba military airfield and made a forced landing. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair. All three people aboard the aircraft survived the accident.
• On 10th May 1948, a Pakistan Air Douglas DC-3 aircraft registration APACG on a flight from Karachi to Baghdad crashed near Basra, killing all 26 people on board. This was considered the first Pakistan-registered airline/aircraft fatal air crash after independence. Later, the aircraft AP-ACG was handed over to the Royal Pakistan Air Force. Airframe used for instructional purposes by RPAF.
• On 26th November 1948, a Pakistan Air Douglas DC-3, registration APACE, was on a flight from Karachi to Lahore with 5 crew members and 16 passengers onboard. The aircraft caught fire due to leaking fuel and crashed near Vehari, 70 miles from Multan. All 21 people aboard the aircraft died in this accident. This is considered the first fatal air crash within Pakistan after independence.
• On 12th December 1949, a Pakistan Air Force Douglas DC-3 aircraft registration APADI was on a flight from Lahore to Karachi when it descended early for landing at Karachi and crashed into a hill near Jungshahi, near Karachi. All 4 crew members and 22 passengers died in this accident. Following this accident, on December 14, 1949, Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence stopped Pak Air from operating flights.

1950s- 1960s

• In October 1952, an Orient Airways flight carrying cargo from Karachi to Dacca crashed. One of three was killed in this crash.
• On 3rd August 1953, the Douglas DC-3 registered AP-AAD was operating on a hajj flight from Karachi to Jeddah via Sharjah and Bahrain. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft entered a steep descending turn. One of 25 was killed in this crash. The responsibility for the accident is attributed to the captain for failing to supervise the piloting of the aircraft by the first officer.”
• On February 25, 1956, Pakistan International Airlines experienced its first recorded hull loss. A Douglas DC-3 flew into a mountain on 25 February while on a cargo flight from Gilgat to Islamabad in poor weather. The plane crashed near the village of Jalkot, killing the three crew members on board.
• On 1 July 1957, a Douglas DC-3 registered AP-AJS, operating a domestic flight from Chittagong to Dhaka in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), crashed on a mudflat in the Bay of Bengal, killing all 20 passengers and four crew members on board.
• On 15 May 1958, a Convair CV-240 with the registration AP-AEH, operating as Flight 205 from Delhi to Karachi, crashed and caught fire moments after it took off from Delhi’s Palam Airport on a moonless night in dusty conditions. The investigation attributed the crash to the captain experiencing a night somatogravic illusion. Four of the six crew members and 21 of the 38 passengers on board were killed; two people on the ground were also killed.
• On 18 May 1959, Vickers Viscount with the registration AP-AJC was damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Islamabad International Airport. The aircraft ran off the runway into a rainwater channel; there were no fatalities.
• On 14 August 1959. The Viscount (registered AP-AJE) crashed at Karachi International Airport during a pilot training flight, while attempting an overshoot with two engines inoperative. Two of the three people on board were killed. Three months after the first Viscount crash, the airline lost another.

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1960s- 1970s

• On 26 March 1965, a Douglas DC-3 registered AP-AAH crashed in mountainous terrain near the Lowari Pass on a domestic flight from Peshawar to Chitral, killing the four crew members and 18 of the 22 passengers on board.
• On 20 May 1965, a Boeing 720 operating as Flight 705 crashed while descending to land on Runway 34 at Cairo International Airport, resulting in 121 fatalities. Eight weeks after the last accident.
• On 8 October 1965, a Fokker F27, registration AP-ATT with less than 500 hours’ flying time since it was delivered, crashed while on a domestic cargo flight from Rawalpindi to Skardu. The aircraft hit a ridge near the village of Patian and slid down its side, more than 1,000 feet below the impact point. The four crew members on board were killed.
• On 2 February 1966, Flight 17, registration AP-AOC, operated by a Sikorsky helicopter, crashed on a scheduled flight from Dacca to Fareedpur in East Pakistan after the main gearbox failed due to oil leakage and a bird hit just before the landing, killing 23 of the 24 passengers and crew on board.

1970s- 1980s

• On 6 August 1970, a Fokker F27 Friendship registered AP-ALM, operating a domestic flight from Rawalpindi to Lahore, crashed at high speed a few minutes after taking off from Rawalpindi in stormy weather. All 26 passengers and four crew members on board were killed.
• On 3 December 1971, a French national’s attempt to hijack a PIA flight (Boeing 720B) from Paris to Karachi was thwarted by French security forces.
• On 8 December 1972, a Fokker F27 registered AP-AUS, operating a domestic flight between Gilgat and Rawalpindi in rainy weather as Flight 631, had nose-dived into a snow-capped mountain village called Maidan near Jallkot, and crashed in mountainous terrain. There were no survivors among the 22 passengers and four crew members on board.
• On 20 January 1978, a PIA Fokker F27 AP-ALW aircraft at Karachi with 22 passengers was hijacked by a gunman who asked to be flown to India. The then chairman of PIA, Air Marshal (Retd) Nur Khan, boarded the aircraft to negotiate with the hijacker. He received a gunshot wound while trying to disarm the hijacker, but still managed to overpower him.
• On 26 November 1979, PIA Flight PK740, a B-707 bringing Hajj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia to Karachi, crashed shortly after take-off from Jeddah airport, killing 156 people.

1980s- 1990s

• On 2 March 1981, PIA Flight PK326, a Boeing 720 registration APAZP Karachi to Peshawar, was hijacked by three gunmen and flown to Kabul. For almost two weeks, more than 100 passengers were held captive until Pakistan released 55 prisoners. One passenger, Pakistani diplomat Tariq Rahim, was murdered during the ordeal.
• On 4 February 1986, a Boeing 747 registered as AP-AYW made a belly landing at Islamabad Airport around 9:00 am. The aircraft was operating Flight 300 from Karachi with 247 passengers and 17 crew members on board. Everyone survived this accident caused by pilot error.
• On 23 October 1986, a Fokker F27 aircraft crashed during an approach to Peshawar Airport. 13 people were killed in the accident, of the 54 people on board.
• On 5th September 1986, Pan Am Flight 073, B-747 registration N656PA, was a scheduled flight from Bombay to New York, with a scheduled stop at Karachi with 360 passengers onboard. During the boarding process, Hijackers dressed in the sky-blue uniforms of ASF drove up to the aircraft in a van fitted with a siren and flashing lights. The hijackers fired shots at the feet of a flight attendant cockpit crew managed to exit the aircraft through the overhead emergency hatch, and the airliner came under the control of the hijackers. Pakistan Army carried out an operation, and after a 17-hour-long hijacking, it came to an end with over 120 injuries, including fatal injuries.
• On 17th August 1988, a US-made Hercules C-130 military aircraft (Registration: 23494, call sign: Pak-1), from Bahawalpur airport to Islamabad airport, crashed at the city of Lodhran near the Sutlej river, killing the President of Pakistan, General Mohammad Zia ul Haq, and 30 others, including the US ambassador.
• On 25 August 1989, a Fokker F27 operating as Flight PK 404 disappeared shortly after taking off from Gilgat Airport. The aircraft presumably crashed somewhere in the Himalaya Mountains. The wreckage was never found, and all 54 people on board were lost and presumed dead.

1990s- 2000s

• On 28 September 1992, a PIA Flight 268, A-300 registration AP-BCP, from Karachi crashed into a cloud-covered hillside on approach to the Nepalese capital airport Kathmandu after the plane descended too early, killing 167 people.
• On December 27, 1997, a Pakistan Airlines Boeing 747 plane from Karachi to London crashed when landing at Dubai International Airport. It overshot the runway and went through the perimeter wall before coming to rest. No one was killed.
• On 25 May 1998, a PIA F27 operating as PK 544 from Gawadar to Karachi was hijacked with 33 passengers. The hijackers wanted the plane to be taken to New Delhi, India. An aircraft landed at Hyderabad airport. All passengers and crew escaped unhurt.

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2000s- 2010s

• On 19th February 2003, an air force Fokker F27 crashed in fog-shrouded mountains near Kohat, killing Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali, his wife, and 15 others.
• On 24th February 2003, a chartered Cessna 402-B carrying Afghan Mines and Industries Minister Juma Mohammad Mohammadi, four Afghan officials, a Chinese mining executive, and two Pakistani crew members crashed into the Arabian Sea near Karachi.
• On 1 March 2004, PIA Flight 2002, A-A300 AP-BBA, burst two tires whilst taking off from Jeddah airport. Fragments of the tire were ingested by the engines, which caused the engines to catch fire, and an aborted takeoff was performed. Due to the fire, substantial damage to the engine and the left wing caused the aircraft to be written off. All 261 passengers and 12 crew survived.
• On 10 July 2006, PIA Flight PK 688, a F-F27 from Multan to Lahore and then to Islamabad, crashed in a field after bursting into flames a few minutes after takeoff from Multan International Airport. All 41 passengers and four crew members on board were killed.
• On 28th July 2010, an Airblue flight ABQ-202 A-321 registration AP-BJB from Karachi to Islamabad crashed into the Margala hills about 7 miles north of the runway while preparing to circle to land in cloudy weather conditions, killing all 152 people on board.
• On 5th November 2010, a twin-engine plane operated by Pakistani charter JS Air had crashed shortly after take-off in Karachi, killing all 21 people on board.
• On 28th November 2010, Sun Way Flight 4412, the Ilyushin IL-76 with Georgian Airline registration 4L-GNI, was an international relief cargo flight from Karachi to Khartoum, Sudan. The flight crashed into buildings under construction at a housing complex for the Pakistan Navy, turned into a fireball about 3 km from the end of the runway, while attempting to return to Karachi after one of the engines failed shortly after take-off. Twelve people were killed in the crash, including four people on the ground. The engine failure was caused by metal fatigue resulting from the operation of the engine beyond its design life.
• On September 25, 2010, a PIA Boeing 777-200LR / AP-BGY, flying from Toronto to Karachi, made an emergency landing at Stockholm Arlanda Airport after a phone call was made claiming a passenger on board was armed with explosives. After the plane landed in Stockholm, it was parked at an emergency stand, and the suspected passenger was removed from the plane by Swedish authorities. The rest of the passengers were also removed, and the empty aircraft was searched. The plane and passengers were allowed to depart Sweden while the suspect was detained in the country for further investigation, but was later released after no evidence was found of the allegation made against him.

2010s- 2020s

• On 20th April 2012, A Bhoja Airlines Flight BHO-213 Boeing 737 registration APBKC, flying from Karachi to Islamabad, crashed five miles short of the runway, while on final approach, confronted/trapped in bad weather .125 people were killed. This was considered the second-deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan after a crash in July 2010.
• On April 27th, 2012, PIA Flight PK-586 had 50 passengers and 5 crewmembers on a flight from Karachi to Bahawalpur. A passenger got into an argument with an airhostess and then threatened to hijack the plane. The captain, taking international safety procedures under such circumstances, flew the plane back to Karachi. The Airport Security Force (ASF) checked the plane and cleared it as a passenger made the claim to hijack the plane as a “joke”. Passenger taken into custody for investigation. No case was, however, registered.
• On 31 August 2012, ATR 42–500 registration AP-BHJ, operating Flight 653 from Islamabad to Lahore, on landing, undershot the runway and came to rest on a grassy area on the right side of Runway 36R. There were no fatalities among the 42 passengers and four crew members. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and withdrawn from service.
• On 11 February 2013, A Boeing 737 aircraft registered AP-BEH was operating Flight 259 from Islamabad to Muscat via Sialkot when its port side main landing gear collapsed during landing at Muscat International Airport. There were no fatalities among the 107 passengers and seven crew members on board. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and withdrawn from service.
• On 24 June 2014, PIA Flight PK 756 A310 AP-BGN from Riyadh to Peshawar with 178 passengers and 12 crew members was hit by gunfire during its landing approach at Peshawar airport. The aircraft landed safely, but one passenger was killed, and two crew members were injured. The aircraft was damaged and later ferried to Karachi for repair.
• On 7 December 2016, PIA Flight PK 661, operated by an ATR 42 registered AP-BHO, crashed near the city of Havelian, about 25miles north of the runway due to a technical fault in the aircraft while en route from Chitral to Islamabad, killing all 47 on board.
• On 3rd November 2015, M/s Shaheen Air International Flight NL-142, Boeing 737 AP-BJO, was on a scheduled flight from Karachi to Lahore. The flight landed on the runway, and after touchdown, both main landing gears broke one after the other. The aircraft skidded, resting on both engines and stopped 197ft left of the runway centerline. The nose landing gear remained intact. All the passengers were safely evacuated. No fatal Injuries to flight crew members or passengers.
• On 24 November 2018, PIAC aircraft ATR AP-BKW was undergoing engine performance ground run-up. The aircraft initially rolled and collided with two dormant aircraft of Shaheen Air.
• On 22 May 2020, PIA Flight PK 8303, Airbus A320, AP-BLD, Lahore to Karachi, crashed while on final approach at Karachi airport, when it lost height and crashed into flames in the residential area near Model colony. 99 people were on board, two passengers survived, while 97 on board, including eight crew members, were killed. Additional fatalities on the ground were unconfirmed. Communication with the plane had been cut off one minute before the landing.

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