Accident

The aircraft was operating a domestic scheduled flight from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, to Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad, which was the airline's first evening flight in almost 12 years (Bhoja Air was earlier closed down amidst financial difficulties in the year 2000, but restarted operations in March 2012). There were six crew and 121 passengers (including 6 children and 5 infants) on board.[2] The flight departed from Karachi at 17:00 PKT (12:00 UTC) and was due to land at Islamabad at 18:50 (13:50 UTC). At 18:40 PKT,[3] the aircraft crashed 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) short of its destination,[2] near the village of Hussain Abad. Eyewitnesses stated that the aircraft may have been struck by lightning prior to the crash, describing it as a "ball of fire."[3] All 127 people on board were killed.[4] Initial reports suggested that as the pilots attempted to land amidst rain and strong winds, the aircraft may have flown into an unexpected wind shear, which smashed it onto the ground below.[5] The landing was attempted during heavy rain and a thunderstorm.[6][7][Note 1] A following Airblue flight landed safely five minutes after the accident occurred.[2]

The airport was closed for three hours after the accident due to a lack of fire cover. The emergency crews based at the airport went to the crash site to assist in the firefighting operations there.[2] Flights affected by the closure were diverted to Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore.[7] Despite the fact that the crash occurred in a residential area, there were no casualties on the ground.[8]

It was the second-deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan,[9], the first being the 2010 crash of Airblue Flight 202 that killed all 152 on board, and is the fourth deadliest accident involving the Boeing 737-200 series.[10]