Bhoja Air B737-200 crash in Islamabad, Pakistan this evening

mhansari · 04-20-2012, 10:42 AM

Sad news out of Islamabad this evening, a Bhoja Air B732 on finals has crashed in a residential area near the airport. According to initial reports, there were 127 souls on board.

The aircraft was operating Bhoja's inaugural flight of a second daily service from Karachi to Islamabad. The exact registration is unknown as yet, the photo above is from my recent visit to Karachi airport, taken shortly before Bhoja started operations.

mjabbasi · 04-20-2012, 11:58 AM

It was AP-BKD, supposedly circa 1980. Lightening strike blamed.

LH B747-430 · 04-20-2012, 12:37 PM

Very sad!

Braniff Kid · 04-20-2012, 02:12 PM

Yes, very sad indeed...my prayers go out to all the families of loved ones on that flight.

vertigo · 04-20-2012, 03:43 PM

Welcome to Pakistan, where flying is suicide - since forever...

And what's with all those crowds at the crash site? I suppose they don't know, they are going to interfere rescue teams with staring at the remains?

mhansari · 04-20-2012, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vertigo

Welcome to Pakistan, where flying is suicide - since forever...

Actually, the statistics look like this:

From 1961 onwards till today:

USA - 59
India - 18
Brazil - 16
France - 14
China - 12
Indonesia - 12
Taiwan - 11
Thailand - 9

and so on.

Pakistan has had the same number of incidents (4) as:

Angola
Cameroon
Germany
Iran
Philippines
Saudi Arabia
SriLanka

So it's not quite as bad as suicide flying.

Interestingly, the Boeing 737 has the highest number of fatal incidents by a wide margin... 137. The 747 is next, with 43.

vertigo · 04-20-2012, 04:44 PM

Your statistics seem a little out of date as Aviation Safety Network has a few more entries for the region Pakistan with an obvious accumulation of incidents over the past few years.

mhansari · 04-20-2012, 04:54 PM

My source was different. Aviation Safety Network also has some interesting numbers for other countries.

USA - 1211
Brazil - 214
India - 139
Germany - 85
Pakistan - 34

Still a lot safer than many, I would think. In fact, Pakistan is not even in the top 25 of worst countries as rated by the ASN.

vertigo · 04-20-2012, 05:07 PM

Most incidents in Germany don't have a bad outcome, as they are caused by small aircrafts or accidents on the ground.
Commercial aviation in the western hemisphere is, due to financial possibilities, at a complete different level of professionalism as the ones in countries like Iran, Pakistan and even India.

Just put the amount of remarkable incidents in relation to the total amount of flights and you'll get a little closer to reality.

mjabbasi · 04-20-2012, 05:42 PM

Actually it has turned out that it was this very a/c pictured above (which had to be removed from Flickr because all the local media channels are uploading it) that crashed, AP-BKC. Manufactured in 1984 for BA and operated by half a dozen airlines since then.

I too would like to know on what basis is flying suicide in Pakistan since 'forever'? The number of fatal accidents is out there for anyone to see.

AnonCollector · 04-20-2012, 06:28 PM

Sad. They just started flying, no? Whatever caused it, they might not survive the blow to their reputation of having a crash so quickly - I wouldn't be surprised to see them out of business.

Meanwhile, the statistics given above are senseless, meaningless, stupid. You have to normalise the number of incidents to the number of flights flown, or the number of passenger-km flown, or something like that.

CathayPacific · 04-20-2012, 08:06 PM

I read on airliners.net this was the inaugural flight ? Sad either way ! RIP !

T7_4ever · 04-20-2012, 11:33 PM

My prayers go out to the victims and their familiy members/relatives in this tragic airplane accident. I hope that investigators can find out the cause, and use their findings to avert any future accidents. I've flown plenty of times (domestic and international flights) when I was a 'single' guy working as a consultant, but never thought of anything if I was involved in a major crash, because it was just me, alone. However, I now have a family ( wife, 2.5 year old daughter and a son on the way ), and I can not imagine the pain and suffering a family has to endure when loved ones perish in a airplane crash. So again, my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims/family members of this horrible plane crash. T7_4ever

A Tupolev · 04-22-2012, 10:07 AM

Looks like some serious air safety issues with airlines in Pakistan.

Quote:

Pakistan air safety doubts as plane crash kills 127
Declan Walsh and Salman Masood, Islamabad

AN airliner flying in a thunderstorm has crashed outside Islamabad, killing all 127 people on board. It was the second major crash near the capital in two years, reviving safety fears in an industry plagued by weak regulation, corruption and labour unrest.

The Boeing 737-200 operated by Bhoja Air had taken off from Karachi and was approaching Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport on Friday night when it developed difficulties and crashed eight kilometres from the airport.

''The pilot lost control and hit the ground,'' said witness Arshad Mehmood, a retired pilot. ''It tossed up due to the impact and exploded and came down in a fireball.''

Rescuers found the main fuselage in a muddy field, but debris, bodies and luggage were scattered over a wide area.

Islamabad police chief Bani Yameen said no one on the ground had died but everyone on board the plane - 121 passengers, including 11 children, and six crew members, according to the airline - had perished. Flight B4-213 was Bhoja Air's first on the Karachi-Islamabad route since the airline, which was founded in 1993, reopened last month after an 11-year hiatus.

As news of the crash spread, grief-stricken relatives gathered at the airports in Islamabad and Karachi. ''My brother's wife was on board this flight,'' Naveed Khan said. ''We pray for the departed souls. What else can we do now?''

It was the second air disaster on the Karachi-Islamabad route in as many years. On July 28, 2010, an airliner owned by Airblue, the country's largest private operator, crashed near Islamabad in fog and heavy rain, killing all 152 people on board. An official inquiry found that pilot error was to blame in what was the deadliest air accident on Pakistani soil. Initial reports suggested that a similar combination of weather and pilot error played a role in Friday's crash.

The death of nearly 300 people in two crashes on approach to the same airport since 2010 angered those in the aviation industry who said government oversight was weak and corrupt.

''This is not about bad weather; I don't buy that,'' said Arif Abbasi, a former chief executive of Pakistan International Airlines, the state carrier. ''The state of aviation in this country leaves much to be desired.''

Criticism centred on the Civil Aviation Authority, which polices aviation in Pakistan and is controlled by Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar.

Read more: Pakistan air safety doubts as plane crash kills 127

mjabbasi · 04-22-2012, 12:16 PM

While the above is not untrue, this particular airport has been serving airlines for a good 50 years without incident till this decade.

AnonCollector · 04-22-2012, 12:35 PM

We must wait for a proper investigation before saying that this one incident is a representative of a wider systemic rot in the country's aviation system.

Hopefully this country's authorities are capable of a proper, technically-rigorous, independent investigation.

mhansari · 04-22-2012, 02:05 PM

Initial reports are suggesting a microburst/windshear situation. However, the official investigation etc will take a while - and frankly, those aren't always the most rigorous or impartial.

According to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority, Boeing wishes to investigate the incident on their own and will be sending a team over. They have requested that the debris not be disturbed until they have inspected the site.

Roarer · 04-22-2012, 06:31 PM

'Arif Abbasi, a former Cheif Exectutive of PIA'

..... No relation Moin?

Roarer · 04-22-2012, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vertigo

Welcome to Pakistan, where flying is suicide - since forever...

I always remember sitting on the Heathrow Express with Moin and on the news the was a helicopter which had crashed in Pakistan.

I mentioned it and Moin's reaction was simply

'Oh it happens all the time'

Oh, right.

I'm sure flying in Pakistan isn't as dangerous as people want to believe though.

Also I heard that when anything happens in Pakistan, there is always about 8 different versions of what happened

AnonCollector · 04-22-2012, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roarer

Also I heard that when anything happens in Pakistan, there is always about 8 different versions of what happened

7 of the versions are different insane conspiracy theories blaming India.

The 8th is an insane conspiracy theory blaming the CIA.

A Tupolev · 04-22-2012, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roarer

Also I heard that when anything happens in Pakistan, there is always about 8 different versions of what happened

Remember, what happens in Pakistan, stays in Pakistan.

A Tupolev · 04-22-2012, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnonCollector

7 of the versions are different insane conspiracy theories blaming India.

The 8th is an insane conspiracy theory blaming the CIA.

I heard an interesting news report about Pakistan on the radio. The reporter just go back from traveling to Pakistan. She said what was interesting is the average Pakistani loves everything about America except for our Government and the CIA. She could talk to a Pakistani person on the street who would complaine about the US Government and the CIA, then quickly change the subject and talk about their son who is attending UCLA.

mjabbasi · 04-23-2012, 01:41 AM

Pakistani's know more about the activities of the US Govt than Americans themselves and Govt's aern't necessarily true representatives/spokespersons of the people. Very few Govt's can actually speak for the people. North Korea for example claims it speaks the true sentiments of its people which is severely open to question and as for India, again its usually the Govt's that go blaming each other for anything that might happen, not the people. Everyone is too busy/concerned with their daily lives/problems to bother about anything else.

Coming back to this crash, until the official investigation is over, nothing is conclusive. Its just a bad month for aviation in the country. Qantas had a run of bad incidents one after the other sometime back but that did not make it a bad airline and unsafe to fly.

AnonCollector · 04-23-2012, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A Tupolev

I heard an interesting news report about Pakistan on the radio. The reporter just go back from traveling to Pakistan. She said what was interesting is the average Pakistani loves everything about America except for our Government and the CIA. She could talk to a Pakistani person on the street who would complaine about the US Government and the CIA, then quickly change the subject and talk about their son who is attending UCLA.

That's a pretty common thing, all around the world, and it has been for a long time. People will despise various foreign policy decisions of the US, while adopting some American cultural exports, or while hoping to send their kids over for college. Americans seem to have trouble understanding that people can have different opinions of different aspects of the US, but they can and they do.

But if you want to see paranoia, it can be hard to beat the conspiracy theories you'll hear in the Pakistani media, blaming India or the US for anything and everything. For example, they even blamed India and the US for floods that devastated parts of Pakistan. Right.