Lahore, Pakistan: As many as 647 passengers lost their lives in 14 major accidents of commercial flights of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
According to the Aviation Safety Network and research conducted by DND News Agency, 647 causalities did not include those who were killed at grounds when commercial aircrafts were crashed in populated areas.
Accidents’ data indicate that Mondays and Fridays were heavy and unfortunate days for PIA passengers.
According to data available with international aviation security databases, no official Inquiry report has been found about any of the flight accidents of Pakistan International Airlines at the international database of accident inquiry reports.
Details of some of the worst accidents are hereunder:
Thursday 20 May 1965
A Boeing 720-040B passenger plane, operated by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was destroyed when it crashed while on approach to Cairo International Airport (CAI), Egypt.
All 13 crew members and 108 passengers were killed. Six passengers survived.
Flight PK705 was the inaugural service from Karachi, Pakistan to London, U.K. Intermediate stops were planned at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Cairo, Egypt and Geneva, Switzerland.
The flight departed Dhahran at 21:22 UTC for Cairo. The flight was uneventful and at 23:40 UTC, 01:40 local time, it was cleared for a left-hand circuit for runway 34. At 23:45 the crew reported turning on finals. The Boeing 720 kept descending and struck the ground short of the runway in a slight left-bank attitude with its undercarriage up and flaps at 20 degrees.
Monday 26 November 1979
Flight PK740 departed Jeddah at 01:29 for a flight to Karachi. The aircraft was climbing to FL370 when, at 01:47, a stewardess reported a fire near the aft cabin passenger door. The crew started a descent from FL300 and were cleared to descend to 4000 feet. Following a mayday call at 02:03 nothing more was heard from the flight. The aircraft crashed in a level rocky area at an elevation of 3000 feet and burst into flames.
Friday 25 August 1989
IA Flight PK-404, a Fokker F-27 Friendship, departed Gilgit (GIL) at 07:36 on domestic passenger service to Islamabad (ISB), Pakistan. There were 49 passengers and five crew members on board.
At 07:40 the crew radioed that they expected over point Bravo at 07:59 and at Islamabad at 08:32. This was the last transmission received from the crew.
The flight was declared missing. It is presumed that the aircraft crashed, killing all aboard. There is no record available about what happened to this unfortunate aircraft and its passengers. No official report has ever been shared with people about the fate of this vanished-away aircraft.
Monday 28 September 1992
PIA Flight 268 departed Karachi, Pakistan at 11:13 for a scheduled passenger flight to Kathmandu, Nepal. The en route portion of the flight was uneventful and the aircraft was cleared for a Sierra approach to Kathmandu’s runway 02. The flight was instructed to maintain 11500 feet and report at 16 DME (16 miles from the VOR/DME beacon, which is located 0,6 nm short of the runway). The Kathmandu approach is very difficult since the airport is located in an oval-shaped valley surrounded by mountains as high as 9665 feet. Runway elevation is 4313 feet altitude above mean sea level (amsl). The next approach fixes for PK268 were at 13 DME (at 10500 feet), 10 DME (at 9500 feet) and 8 DME (at 8200 feet). A few seconds after reporting 10 DME, the aircraft descended through 8200 feet, which was the altitude for 8 DME. The Airbus impacted a steep cloud-covered hillside at approx. 7300 feet amsl at 9,16 DME.
Monday 28 September 1992
IA Flight 268 departed Karachi, Pakistan at 11:13 for a scheduled passenger flight to Kathmandu, Nepal. The en route portion of the flight was uneventful and the aircraft was cleared for a Sierra approach to Kathmandu’s runway 02. The flight was instructed to maintain 11500 feet and report at 16 DME (16 miles from the VOR/DME beacon, which is located 0,6 nm short of the runway). The Kathmandu approach is very difficult since the airport is located in an oval-shaped valley surrounded by mountains as high as 9665 feet. Runway elevation is 4313 feet amsl. The next approach fixes for PK268 were at 13 DME (at 10500 feet), 10 DME (at 9500 feet), and 8 DME (at 8200 feet). A few seconds after reporting 10 DME, the aircraft descended through 8200 feet, which was the altitude for 8 DME. The Airbus impacted a steep cloud-covered hillside at approx. 7300 feet amsl at 9,16 DME.
Monday 10 July 2006
A Fokker F-27 Friendship 200 passenger plane, registered AP-BAL, was destroyed in an accident shortly after takeoff from Multan Airport (MUX), Pakistan. All 41 passengers and four crew members were killed.
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-688 was a scheduled service from Multan to Lahore Airport (LHE), Pakistan.
During the roll for take-off on runway 36 at a speed of about 60-70 kts, an unidentified pump was observed to be malfunctioning about which the aircrew showed their concern.
Subsequently, the aircraft started to veer to the right side but the captain was able to straighten it to the runway direction in the right half of the runway. At a speed of about 90 kts, the captain asked his co-pilot if the right engine torque was less, which was confirmed by the co-pilot.
After another 5 seconds, the co-pilot announced the V1 speed (around 108-110 kts). The aircraft lifted off at a speed of 120 kts, which was above the scheduled Vr.
Some 44 seconds after initiation of the take-off roll, the right engine flamed out (spooled down) and the prop auto feathered. The gear was not raised and the crew started securing the engine below an altitude of 400 feet, which was contrary to emergency procedures. Meanwhile, the airplane was drifting to the right.
Because the gears were not raised and the aircraft was not wings level, the speed started to decrease. Consequently the aircraft stopped climbing at 150-160 feet AGL. Some 40 seconds after takeoff the aircraft stalled and crashed. A fire erupted.
Wednesday 7 December 2016
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK661, an ATR 42-500, was destroyed after impacting a hillside near Havelian, Pakistan.
The aircraft took off from Chitral around 15:30, bound for Islamabad. At 16:09 the flight changed frequencies from Cherat to Islamabad ATC. At 16:14 the flight radioed that they had an engine problem and that they were descending.
One minute later a Mayday call was issued. That was the last contact with the aircraft.
Friday 22 May 2020
Pakistan International Airlines flight 8303, an Airbus A320, crashed on approach to Karachi-Jinnah International Airport (KHI), Pakistan. The airline stated there were 91 passengers on board and 8 crew members. Officials involved in the rescue operation reported that 97 bodies have been recovered and that two passengers have survived the accident.
The flight departed Lahore at 13:05 hours local time (08:05 UTC) and was expected to arrive at Karachi about 14:45 (09:45 UTC). About 14:32 the flight reported to the air traffic controller of Karachi Tower that they were descending from 3500 to 3000 feet and established on the ILS for runway 25L. The controller replied: “copy that, turn left heading 180”. Because that would take them away from the ILS approach the flight replied, “Sir, we are established on ILS 25L”. The Tower controller then stated they were 5 miles from touch down and subsequently cleared the flight to land.
According to the ILS approach chart for Karachi Airport, an aircraft a distance of 5 DME should be at an altitude of about 1680 ft. Transponder altitude data captured by Flightradar24 suggests that the aircraft was descending between 4050 and 3725 feet at the time the controller reported that the flight was 5 miles out.
The aircraft continued the approach. What exactly transpired is unclear at this time, but ARY News quoted from a CAA Pakistan report that stated scrape marks from the no.1 engine started on the runway at 4500 feet (1370 m) from the threshold followed by no.2 engine scrape marks at 5500 feet (1675 m).
At 14:35 the flight crew radioed that they were going around and requested another ILS approach to runway 25L. The controller instructed the flight to turn left heading 110 and climb to 3000 feet. Four minutes later the flight reported they had “lost engines” and subsequently declared a Mayday. The controller cleared the flight to land with both runways (25L and 25R) available.
The aircraft crashed in a residential area named Model Colony, about 1360 m short of the threshold of runway 25L. The aircraft broke up and a large post-impact fire erupted.
