An Air Blue passenger plane carrying 152 people crashed in Islamabad’s Margalla Hills on Wednesday morning. Although rescue teams have been dispatched to the site of the crash, due to the hilly terrain, teams travelling by road are having difficulty reaching the area.
Dawn.com invites its readers to share whatever information and/or photographs you may have pertaining to today’s passenger plane crash.
To view the passenger list, please click here. Let Dawn.com know if you have any questions or any query we can help you with.
The views expressed by the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
INNA LILLA HEY WA INNA ILAIHAY RAJAOON.
Feel deeply sorry on this tragedy, but many questions arrises on this incident.
Why a retired pilot from Pia has been given job in Airblue ? Why Govt & minister of defence have no control on all these private airlines ? Normally all the planes comes from KAHOOTA side for landing, why the airblue flight diverted to Margalla side for landing ? I have come to know from some sources that this airblue flight was coming from Italy, which converted in to domestic flight from Karachi to Islamabad.
A tragic event indeed. May Allah bring peace and solidarity to the families of the victims and may the departed souls rest in peace.
With that said I must say that the safety standards have to be revitalized and all measures should be adopted to prevent such unfortunate incidents from occurring. Accountability standards also have to be taken into consideration because someone did not perform their duty accordingly. It’s unfortunate that the families of the victims had to see their loved ones go in such a way.
God bless our country and the people in it.
It is a really tragic event, May Allah bless those departed. I have travelled with Air Blue
many times, and I have never faced any problem during my trip. All the issues I faced
were the least bit related to technical operations.
We shall only come to know about it once the enquiry is completed.
انّا للہ و انّا الیه راجعون
Its a very sad morning here in Toronto. I just came to my office & read this horrible news. After reading above comments I think CAA or whatever authority who ‘ll do the investigation should do thorough investigation. But I doubted as now cntradicting news already started coming about Black Box. May Allah rest their souls.
May allah rest their souls. It is a very sad incident. If what has been said is correct about potential pilot error or Air blue fuel saving technique. Authorities should take action.
I just learned that my first cousing, a young man with immense potential and talent, was on the plane and died. For what was a tragic news a few moments ago, it has suddenly become a personal loss. I dont know why I am writing all this, may be just to say to anyone out there to love your loved ones as though you will never see them again. May Allah rest Hasan’s soul in peace.
First of all deepest condolences for the departed souls.Being an aviator for the last thirty years I would like to point out a few facts which might have contributed to this tragic accident.
1.Islamabad Airport has a single runway with no parallel taxiway so all the landing aircrafts have to “backtrack”(turn back and taxi on the runway) on the runway which takes quite a long time and till the aircraft clears the runway no other aircraft can land.The other aircrafts have to “hold” (keep circling) in the air or get landing clearance very late.This puts extra pressure on the pilots.
2. The runway has precision instrument guidence system if the plane is landing from the eastern side,but from the western side there is no such facility,infact the plane passes over densly populated area of pindi.God forbid if an accident happens or some terrorist activity takes place from the ground one can imagine the consequences.If the wind is blowing from east (usually in winter or moonsoon) the pilot has no choice but to land from western side.This requires special procedure and visibility has to be good.Since its not a routine procedure pilots do not have enough practice to carry out this procedure and at times take undue risks.Unfortunately some of the new Air Traffic Controllers also lack knowledge of the procedure and visibility requirements if the landings are taking place from western side.
3. Islamabad Airport is surronded by “restricted areas”,where pilots are forbidden to fly like Kahuta,Presidency and wah factory this leaves limited area for pilots to manuover especially in bad weather.
Well these are all speculations and only God knows what happened till we get the blackbox deciphered.
I strongly feel the new Islamabad Airport at Fateh Jang if completed by now would have averted this tragic loss of life.
GOD BLESS ALL WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THIS CRASH.
A couple of things went wrong
1. When landing in Islamabad there are two directions to approach the runway. The direction from Rawalpindi side is assisted through ILS (Instrument Landing System), however when the wind conditions are not favorable pilots have to use the other direction, which is not supported by ILS and pilots have to make a decision based on visual contact. Due to heavy rain fall and foggy conditions, I believe the pilot made the error and strayed from him mark
2. After mid 1990’s the decision to whether allow an Aircraft to divert or land has been taken away from Traffic controllers and has been passed to the pilot and the aircraft company (AirBlue in this case). As airlines suffer major losses when flights are redirected, I believe the pilot and Airblue made the call to land the aircraft despite unfavorable conditions. 30 minutes before this plane, a PIA flight was redirected to Lahore due to bad weather and I believe this should have also been the case with Airblue flight.
Inna Lilla Hay Wa Inna Alahay Rajeoon
I am really very sorry for what happened to our brothers and sisters May Allah Almighty rest their souls in peace.May Allah Almighty Bless Pakistan(Sum Ameeen)
I got into my car to head out for work here in Toronto around 8:30 am EST, heard the sad news on 680 news radio. I got so upset that I took the wrong exit on the highway and almost hit the car in front of me. I am very shocked and upset on the loss. I know none of them but I guess the connection is so strong that can’t get anything done today!!
I request dawn to take the leadership on investigation and use the feedback from the readers regarding landing and takeoff issues with Air Blue flights. We cannot let these guys make money at the cost of people’s lives.
May Allah bless the ones who died and give courage and patience to their loved ones!!
Inna LILLALLAH i wa inna Illahi Rajioooon.
Inna Lillah-e Wa-inna Elaehe Rajeoon.
I don’t have words to describe how grieved I am on this extremely tragic incident. I went through the list of passengers onboard and there seem to be a few names whom I’ve interacted in my college or at the places I’ve worked at . I used to travel to Islamabad and Lahore in the morning flights quite frequently when I was back there in Pakistan, and I can actually feel how painful it must’ve been for the families and friends of the affectees. Never did I realize how sudden the death can be.
My heartiest condolence to the families and a lot of sincere prayers for those who’ve passed away.
May Allah give all of us the patience to bear this irrepairable loss (Ameen).
Asif
May their souls rest in peace (Ameen)…
What a heart-breaking tragedy it has been. As soon as i heard of the incident, a severe chill ran throughout my body, my eyes overflowed with grief for those whom I’ve never seen or known and i wondered what it would be like for the families of the deceased ones. If this Air Blue’s landing and take-off thing is true, people should highlight it before any other event like this one strikes the nation.
If the weather was so bad that other aircrafts were diverted to alternate airports why did the airport give landing clearance to this aircraft. I hope a full transcript of conversation between pilot and air traffic is reviewed by Airbus along with CVC and FDR if recovered. The analysis must be done by a non Pakistani entity because Pakistan nas a sorry habit of lying about every thing that shows their incompetence. The people and relatives of the passengers MUST demand a fair and impartian inquiry into all facts and causes of this accident.
I work in a hospital and we could see the smoke and helicopters flying over the site. What a sad day. My deepest condolences for all those who lost their loved ones in this tragic accident. May God help the parents and relatives during this time of sorrow and grief.
Inna Lilla Hay Wa Inna Alahay Rajeoon
Just woke up in the morning to hear about the shocking news! My prayers go out to all the victims, their families and friends in this tragic time. May Allah give the families strength. Ameen
Lets not pass blame at this time onto the airline, the pilot, or anyone else but only remember those people who have lost their lives today in this horrific accident.
It was an accident a shoking news, but there should be complete investigation of the crash or it may be a mystery
We all should pray for that who have died in this sad incident.
It was very sad news, but there should be complete investigation.
Inna Lilla Hey Wa Inna Ilaihay Rajaoon
Our hearts go out to the victims of this tragedy. May their souls rest in peace. Amen!
I live in F-7/4. I was leaving for work around 9.20 AM when I heard the noise of this plane near my house. I got out and was astonished to see a plane flying very low over my sector. I could see its tail, wheels and landing gear. I talked to my guard and he was surprised also that planes usually land south of islamabad airport, not near margallas. At 10.30 AM, I learned from a coworker that the crash had happened. I was devastated and felt very sad.
The reason could have been pilot error or bad weather. The pilot, Pervez Iqbal, had retired from PIA. How can Air Blue hire retired pilots? It should be illegal to hire pilots after they have been retired by an airline. Pilots need sharp skills and should be strong mentally. Also, if Air Blue pilots lower engine power when landing to cut fuel costs then it is very sad. They are risking the lives of hundreds of passengers. Air Blue should apologize, not sympathize, to all families of the victims.
Civil Aviation should GROUND all Air Blue flights till investigation has been completed and the cause determined. Also, all Air Blue aircrafts should be tested and certified for safe flight. YOU CANNOT RISK THE LIVES OF HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE TO MAKE A PROFIT.
Hopefully, someone at CAA and Air Blue will have the guts to resign after this incident. But again this is Pakistan. Life goes on. Who cares. If we want to rise as a nation, then we need professionalism and accountability to improve things. Oherwise, things will only go from bad to worse.
Asim
ahusain2005@gmail.com
Brother i totally agree with you, if today we ignore PAKISTAN then it could not be survive
I WANT TO LOOK MY COUNTRY ALL FULL (PEACEFUL, BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL)
A PAKISTANI
MALIK
ASIM:
I personally know the pilot Unlce “Pervez Iqbal”. He was one of the most experienced pilots PIA ever had in its team. Although PIA has a retirement policy at an specific age so he had to retire but he was verp sharp, mentally and physically strong.
My conern is, this tragedy is NOT to be blamed on Pilot. Uncle Pervez was a very pious guy (huge beard), long, smart and charismatic personality. Period
May Allah have mercy on the departed souls. Ameen
To Mr. Asim,
I respect your concern, but I would respectfully disagree with your comments entirely. And I would even call it highly irresponsible.
First, the investigation is on-going. No conclusions should be drawn out without evidence as it has the potential for misinformation.
I am not an expert in this field, but have enough knowledge to credibly reject your hypothesis about lowering engine throttles to reduce cost (most ridiculous thing I have ever heard). Do you have any evidence to support that? There are pre-flight checklists, descent checklists, approach and landing checklists, and they are all very well defined in terms of airspeed, throttle settings, flap controls, descent rate, minima heights for specific terrains, as well as specific aircrafts and these are very thoroughly maintained by the control towered airports such as it is in Islamabad. And for your information, CAA and FAA have the protocol to regularly audit the logs of flight approaches and descents, to maintain accreditation for all international airports.
And FYI, I am not related to any airline industry nor am I a pilot, so conflicts of interest apply.
Please exercise caution in your judgments.
MAY GOD BLESS ALL THE VICTIMS OF THE FLIGHT..:(
very sad moment for all of us……..have no words to describe the situation..
am from sharjah and want to convey from all Paki people condolences towards this incident…..
Airbus A320 is a very sophisticated and modern plane. It can land in bad weather, there was no technical problem reported by crew, the control tower had already cleared it for landing. The captain of plane was very experienced and seasoned pilot, who had landed at Islamabad Airport several times before, So what went wrong?
.CAA and Air blue management are responsible for this terrible tragedy. IF aircrews start thinking or are forced to think of the balance sheets rather than the supreme aspect of Flight safety than accidents like this will continue to happen. This is not the first.
The passengers have all the right to sue the Airline for extreme negligence. Some heads need to role in the CAA for pooh poohing the reported short cuts in Airblue and other private airlines.
Gliding down for landings, no missed approaches, avoiding diversions and bursting the weather limits manifest a mindset of accountants rather than a professional aviation team.
Controlled flight into the ground will be the result of this investigation.
I will be extremely surprised if they found something terribly wrong with the navigation system.
RIP , my countrymen. You have succumbed to corporate greed
I can tell you without any doubt that ….It was a controlled flight into the ground. Extremely poor judgement by the Aircrew. Poor procedures,short cuts and overconfidence.
But this one is mindboggling. He has over shot the runway by at least 15 miles and descended into the Margallas. Remember the crash in India a few months ago,the Captain was warned for making go rounds/missed approaches. It is considered a bad thing by the managment as a missed approach is considered a waste of time and money.
When th aircrew are forced to be concerned about other things/prorocols rather than the safety of the plane and most importantly the passengers than something like this will keep happening.
Mr. Pervez Khan,
Please don’t blame the crew without knowing facts. Those poor souls are not there anymore to defend themselves. We do not know what actually happend. Yes CFIT-Controlled Flight Into Terrain is the biggest factor of accidents in avition recent history but it is too early to pass a judgement.
Comments like yours only mislead people and give birth to false baseless stories – accusations. We must not do that.
There is no such thing as gliding a jet on to runway to save fuel – who comes up with these ridiculous statements?
Also for the info of the readers there is nothing wrong if a pilot is above 60yrs as long as he is medically fit (CAA probably medically examins every 6 months for pilots above 60 yrs). Successful airlines like Emirates has pilots flying till age of 65.
Lets talk facts – lets wait for the outcome of investigation.
May Allah bless the departed souls and give courage to their families n friends to bear this loss- Ameen
Few of our friends are mentioning that they heard a very high noise over F7/4 area. In my view these areas fall under NO Fly Zone. Also, Islamabad Airport is at a very different location. An experienced pilot would always keep in mind the sensitivity of the area. In my view something very wrong happened and authorities are hiding it. Its not as simple as it have been mentioned.
Mr. Khan,
On what basis are you rushing to judgment? Were you on the plane?
Because authorities are not telling truth, in less than twenty four hours, they have changed many statments, First they said, there were few survivors, now they say, there are no survivors, first they said, they have found black box, now they say they have’nt found black box, First they said, the weather was extremely bad, now they say, weather was not that bad, First they said, Control tower cleared palne for landing, now they say, the plane was not cleared for landing, Last but not least, now they say that plane had no communication with control tower. There are so many conflicting statements, only needed is some common sense, rather than die in crash to know, that they are hiding something.
We all should pray for that who have died in this sad incident.
may ALLAH bless there souls in peace
انّا للہ و انّا الیه راجعون