Never before seen photos of PIA's AP-BCP crash at Kathmandu

ConnieMan · Post by **ConnieMan** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:51 am

This is really sad indeed, I clearly remember when this accident happened, we were then living in Jeddah. After seeing just picture of tail section in Arab news paper i remember asking my uncle, howcome there are no pictures of rest of the aircraft, i remember to this day asking him, he replied "Most likely nothing else survived and tail was just the biggest section left of it". Wow after that time, this is the first time i am seeing these gruesome pictures and he was right, nothing else was left of it!...

One of my class mates was related to one of the pilots from this crash and his family was divested by this tragedy back then...

I also wondered why did pilots flew lower then prescribed altitude on that doomed flight, what were they thinking or was there a mechanical problem with aircraft why it flew lower!!. Maybe there time had come then to go, who knows.

It would be interesting to see transcripts from this crash or hear the conversation from black box from CVR to see what was going on in the cockpit of this flight...

kashan · Post by **kashan** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:56 pm

Photo of very pretty kashmiri stewardess Mona Amjad was published in weekend MAG magazine long time back, it was a page where people would post their most memorable photos, Mona's was taken by her brother a photographer just as she was rushing to get ready for the KTM flight, he made made her stop and pose for him, he said little did he know it was the last time he would see her.

Someone in PIA told us that one stewardess was found alive but passed away later on, dont know if its true.

nopy99 · Post by **nopy99** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:59 am

Abbas Ali wrote:Following are some related photos/scans with information for members wanting to learn more about flight PK-268 tragedy.

Abbas Bhai, thanks for the very detailed post about this tragic accident.

Does anyone know what remedial actions were taken to prevent reoccurence of such incidents in Nepal. Also what action did PIA take? did they retrain pilots flying into Nepal.

Also i think the memorial park looks like a very fiting tribute to the victims of this incident.

ConnieMan · Post by **ConnieMan** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 3:50 am

nopy99 wrote: Also i think the memorial park looks like a very fiting tribute to the victims of this incident.

Yes it sure does, i am very happy that a tribute memorial was made for the victims of this tragedy. On the otherhand if PIA or Pakistan government would have asked or forced Saudis to make similar memorial for the victims of Taif crash in 1979 that would have served the same purpose also. I am not sure if it could be done now after almost 30 years later....

kamalla · Post by **kamalla** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:24 am

I too can clearly recall the day when I found about this tragic incident. I was in Lahore and visiting my cousins in Wahdat Colony, we were returning from playing a game of cricket or football and we could overhear the news on the neighbour's TV set. It was truely a sad day for PIA and Pakistan. I remember seeing footage on TV of Karachi Airport after the incident and they showed crew members waiting for their flights and they were all crying.

ConnieMan wrote:I also wondered why did pilots flew lower then prescribed altitude on that doomed flight, what were they thinking or was there a mechanical problem with aircraft why it flew lower!!. Maybe there time had come then to go, who knows.

It would be interesting to see transcripts from this crash or hear the conversation from black box from CVR to see what was going on in the cockpit of this flight...

I remember my Dad telling me that after the blackboxes were recovered and their contents reviewed, it was revealed that the Captain made a comment right before the transmission ends.... I can't recall the exact phrase, but it was something to the effect of "we're doomed" or "we're done" - or something like that. I think it was reported in "The News" during the investigation into the incident. If true, it would indicate that the Pilots were not aware how much the aircraft had descended due to the cloud cover and when they did realize that they were so close to terrrain, it was too late.

Abbas Ali · Post by **Abbas Ali** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:20 am

nopy99 wrote:Does anyone know what remedial actions were taken to prevent reoccurence of such incidents in Nepal.

As far as I know, changes were made in Kathmandu Airport approach chart to make it more clear to cockpit crew.

If someone has latest Jeppesen approach chart for Kathmandu Airport then we compare it with chart used by crew of PK-268 to see changes made in approach chart after PK-268 tragedy.

Abbas

SM · Post by SM » Sat Feb 07, 2009 6:48 am

Abbas Ali wrote:As far as I know, changes were made in Kathmandu Airport approach chart to make it more clear to cockpit crew.

If someone has latest Jeppesen approach chart for Kathmandu Airport then we compare it with chart used by crew of PK-268 to see changes made in approach chart after PK-268 tragedy.

Abbas

Abbas,

Since we are talking on this subject, here are the latest charts:

Please note that this is copyrighted material and strictly should not be "borrowed" or "adapted" for use in a real-world flight operation. It is provided in support of this discussion only.

atmalik · Post by **atmalik** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:03 am

thank you for sharing these pictures, and the detailed report Abbas on this sad incident

Abbas Ali · Post by **Abbas Ali** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:11 am

SM wrote:Abbas,

Since we are talking on this subject, here are the latest charts:

Thank you SM.

raihans · Post by **raihans** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:43 am

nopy99 wrote:Also what action did PIA take? did they retrain pilots flying into Nepal.

i remember someone pointed out that all KTM flights will be operated with A310s and in case non availability of A310 equipment, B737 will be operated. possible reasons that these equipment can gain height in minimal time than the A300 due to engine performance. I hope some one from PIA can confirm further?

PIA711HVY · Post by **PIA711HVY** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 7:53 pm

I dont think so it has to do with aircraft performance..i have read the the investigation report it was just a pilot error on part of the CAPTAIN.

bhattman · Post by **bhattman** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:29 pm

Very sad indeed, our prayers are with all the victims of this tragedy..... Glad to see that changes have been made and lessons learned from this tragedy. We pray that there is no repeat of this terrible tragedy.

nopy99 · Post by **nopy99** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:12 am

a video of the approach into Kathmandu

AP-BGL · Post by **AP-BGL** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:51 am

Probably the cliff area that can be seen at the start of the video would be the area where ill-fated PIA A300 crashed...

I can't spot any other area where an aircraft can hit. Correct me if I'm wrong.

ConnieMan · Post by **ConnieMan** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:56 am

Personally i quite didn't liked the way they were flying and communicating among themselves, it seemed at one point that pilot was flying VFR and had no idea where airport was as he started to turn right and was corrected to go left towards the runway's threshold...

Not a place where i would wanna go, sorry!!!