A passenger plane crash near the Pakistani capital on Friday, apparently killing all 127 people onboard.
Major Pakistani Air Crashes
- March, 1953: First known commercial passenger airplane crash in Pakistan; 11 killed
- November, 1979: PIA Boeing 707 bringing home Hajj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia crashes after take-off from Jeddah; 156 killed
- September, 1992: PIA Airbus A300 crashes on approach to Nepal's capital, Kathmandu; 167 killed
- July, 2010: Airblue Airbus 321 flying from Karachi crashes outside Islamabad; all 152 people on board killed
- April, 2012: Bhoja Air Airbus 737 from Karachi to Islamabad comes down in bad weather; More than 100 killed
Aviation authorities and witnesses say the deadly crash occurred in a small village a few kilometers from Islamabad International Airport.
The Boeing 737 jetliner was coming from the southern port city of Karachi and went down as it was preparing to land in bad weather.
Civilian and military rescue teams rushed to the scene. A Pakistan army officer spoke with reporters and said rescue workers had recovered 110 bodies so far.
Airline officials blame bad weather for the accident, dismissing allegations that the aircraft experienced a technical malfunction.
Witness Rizwan Abbas said he saw the passenger plane in flames as it emerged from the clouds.
He said there was a massive blaze and that he could not understand what was happening. "We came out," he said, "and saw smoldering wreckage on roofs and bodies lying in the neighbor’s house."
Another local resident said it was raining hard and that before the crash, the rear portion of the plane was in flames.
The jetliner was operated by local carrier Bhoja Air. It was on its maiden flight to the Pakistani capital from Karachi.
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has ordered an investigation into the accident.
In July 2010, a passenger plane belonging to Airblue airline crashed in the mountains near Islamabad, killing all 152 people onboard. It was the deadliest plane crash in Pakistan history.
