LAHORE: The unfortunate flight - Airblue Airbus-321 - was the 34th aircraft to crash in Pakistan since 1947, raising the total deaths caused by aircraft crashes to 887.
A cargo aircraft Avro 691 Lancastrian of Onze-Air was the first to go down with four crew members on board, none of whom survived. An error in judgment on the part of the pilot in allowing the aircraft to stall while landing caused the crash.
On November 26, 1948, Pakistan Airways Douglas DC-3 crashed shortly after taking off. The omission of a sealing washer on the carburettor fuel filter of the port engine caused this crash, resulting in the death 16 passengers and 4 crew members on board. Another DC-3 crashed on December 12, 1949, at Jangshahi, 30 miles north of Karachi Airport due to navigation error killing 26 on board. December 30, 1949, Douglas C-54A-DO of the Bharat Airways crashed at Comilla, while attempting a crash landing. None of the 7 on board survived. On August 26, 1952, Bristol 170 Freighter of the - Pakistan Air Force crashed at Khewra spelling doomsday for all 18 on board as a result of engine failure. DH 106 Comet 1A of the Canadian Pacific Airlines caused the death of 11 people on March 3, 1953 in Karachi, when the aircraft overran the runway during takeoff. Douglas C-47B of the PIA, struck Lash Golath Mountain at Jalkot while enroute on February 25, 1956 killing 3 crew members.
Twenty-four died in the crash in former East Pakistan in 1957 when the PIA DC-3 crashed onto tidal flats off Charlakhi Island during a storm. Near the Bay of Bengal. Pakistan International Airlines’ Viscount 815, crashed due to the complacency of the pilot on August 14, 1959 in Karachi. This pilot error cost 21 lives. A Douglas C-47A of the Indian Airlines on July 15, 1962 fell to nature as a vulture crashed through the cockpit window and killing two including the co-pilot, near Lahore.
Douglas C-47 of the PIA crashed near Lowari Pass on March 26, 1965, 22 out of the 26 on board lost their lives. A Lockheed C-130B Hercules of the PAF hit a mountain during its flight on July 15, 1966, killing 10 army men. The crashing of Lockheed Martin L-100 of the PAF caused the demise of 22 people after encountering turbulence, possibly leading to a break-up of the aircraft on April 3, 1968.
Fokker F-27 of the PIA crashed into terrain after takeoff in thunderstorms and strong winds on August 6, 1970 near Islamabad, leaving 30 dead. An Antonov AN-22 of a private operator crashed near Paranah, during an emergency landing with engines on fire on December 19, 1970. On December 30, 1970, a Fokker F-27 of PIA, crashed and burned on landing, consequently burning alive seven people out of the 35 on board. Another Fokker F-27 crashed near Pattian on October 8, 1965 killing four. The Fokker F-27 disasters continued as on December 8, 1972 poor weather conditions resulted in the death of 26 people near Rawalpindi.
Fokker F-27 Friendship 600 continued to be accident-prone as on October 23, 1986, 13 of the 54 on board the PIA flight from Lahore to Peshawar, lost their lives. The same aircraft, Fokker F-27, of PIA, on August 25, 1989 crashed into Himalayan mountains enroute from Gilgit to Islamabad. None of the 54 on board survived.
On August 17, 1988, the Lockheed C-130B of the PAF crashed shortly after taking off from Bahawalpur 60 miles near the Indian border. Act of sabotage. Detonation of a low-level explosive device or incapacitating gas was suspected by the investigators. US ambassador to Pakistan, Arnold Raphael, 45, and Gen Zia, 64, killed. A recent report states that the accident was caused by the failure of the elevator control system due to a mechanical failure.
A flight of Afghan Airlines from Kandahar to Herat was forced to return to Kandahar on January 13, 1998, because of poor weather when it crashed into a mountain 70 miles north off Quetta, causing the death of 51 people.
A military Fokker F-27 crashed into a mountainside in a remote region near the town of Kohat, about 250 km northwest of Islamabad on February 20, 2003 due to pilot’s premature descent, 17 people lost their lives due to this adventurism of the pilot.
A Boeing B-737-200 of the Afghan Airways and the 104 passengers on board died on February 3, 2005 when the aircraft, unable to land at Kabul because of a blizzard, tried to reach Peshawar, but crashed.
A PIA Fokker F-27 plane lost an engine during take off, struck power lines and crashed into a field bursting into flames on July 10, 2006, near Multan, resulting in the death of 41 passengers and 4 crew members. A military helicopter crashed enroute while transporting troops near Peshawar on July 3, 2009 killing 26 passengers. All 152 people aboard the Air blue flight from Karachi to Islamabad, were killed on July 28, 2010, when the plane crashed in the Margalla Hills, making it the worst commercial aircraft disaster in the country’s history.
