Shaheen Air flight NL-901 made an emergency landing at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan, on June 10th.
Authorities said one of the tires had burst as the plane took off from Islamabad, Pakistan. The plane was bound for Manchester, United Kingdom, at the time.
The plane landed safely. All 150 passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-588 made a safe landing at Bahawalpur Airport, Pakistan, on May 17.
The Avions de Trasport Regional ATR-42-500, flying from Karachi, Pakistan, was about to land when the crew detected some issue with one of its engines.
The plane landed safely.
No one was injured.
Qatar Airways flight QR-628 made a safe landing at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore, Pakistan, on May 10th.
The Airbus A330-300, flying from Doha, Qatar, was on approach to the runway when it ingested a bird.
The plane landed safely.
All passengers and crew members onboard remained unharmed.
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-894 had to return and make an emergency landing in Karachi, Pakistan, on April 11th.
The plane took off for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but had to return shortly afterwards due to an issue with the flaps.
The plane landed safely. Everyone aboard remained unharmed.
The airline arranged a replacement plane for the passengers.
A charter plane had to return and crash land at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan, on March 18.
The plane crash landed minutes after taking off from the airport.
There were 21 people onboard, out of whom two were injured.
The cause of crash landing it yet to be confirmed.
Airblue Airbus A321-200 narrowly escaped accident when one of its tires burst upon landing at Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 4th.
The aircraft was coming from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, when one of the tires burst during landing. The plane tilted toward its side and the right hand engine touched the ground.
There were 230 passengers aboard the flight PA-271 at the time; all of them remained safe.
Emirates flight EK-522 had to make an emergency landing in Karachi, Pakistan, on February 14.
The Boeing 777-200, en-route from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, was diverted after the crew needed to shut down its left hand engine.
The plane landed uneventfully. There were 170 people aboard at the time; all of them remained unhurt.
The airline arranged a replacement plane for the passengers.
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-758 made a safe landing at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore, Pakistan, on December 4.
The Boeing 777-200, en-route from Heathrow Airport, London, to Lahore, was approaching Lahore’s runway when it hit a bird.
The plane landed safely.
All passengers aboard remained unhurt.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-211 had to divert and make an emergency landing at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, on November 17.
The Airbus, en-route from Islamabad, Pakistan, to Dubai, UAE, had to divert due to cracked windshield.
The plane landed safely.
No injuries were reported.
Shaheen Air flight NL-142 crash-landed at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, Pakistan, on November 3.
The plane was flying from Karachi when the pilot declared emergency due to faulty landing gear.
Authorities said one of the tires of the plane burst upon landing, causing it to skid off the runway.
At least 10 passengers were injured in the incident and were provided medical treatment.
The aircraft’s fuselage sustained damage.
The incident is being investigated.
Emirates Airlines flight EK-612 made a safe landing at Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad, Pakistan, on September 9.
The Boeing 777-300, flying from Dubai to Islamabad was struck by a bird while it was about to land.
The aircraft sustained significant damage and could not depart for the return flight EK-613.
No injuries were reported.
Sudanese President Omar-al-Bashir’s plane made an emergency landing at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, Pakistan, on September 1.
President Omar-al-Bashir was on a 4-day visit to China when his plane made an emergency stop due to shortage of fuel.
The plane landed uneventfully. Governor Punjab Rafique Rajwana received the Sudanese President.
The plane took off again after refueling.
A Pakistan Army Aviation’s MI-17 helicopter crashed near Lasan Nawab, Mansehra, Pakistan, on August 6.
The helicopter crashed during its flight from Rawalpindi to Gilgit. Authorities said the accident happened due to bad weather.
At least 12 men from Pakistan armed forces were killed in the crash.
The deceased were identified as Major Muzammil, Major Humayun, Major Shahzad, Major Usman, Major Atif, Havaldar Munir Abbasi, Amanullah, Naik OT Maqbool, Naik Amir Saeed, Sepoy Waqar and Sepoy Rehmat-ullah.
Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them.
Those are words by another George—the Victorian novelist Mary Anne Evans whose pen name was George Elliot.
“Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them.” No truer words were ever spoken. But there are so many dead to remember in the world of plane crashes. In the world of plane crashes, some disasters manage to make it into the spotlight
Like MH370, where more money has been spent on looking for the wreckage than the families will ever receive;
Like MH17 the casualty of a civil war that looks like it might split the world;
Like Germanwings 9525 whose memorial this weekend in the French Alps leaves so fresh a wound, I wonder how the families will ever heal.
Some disasters, big or small, just as tragic, manage to bypass the attention of the world stage. Or people just forget. It is the calendar that calls me to remember this flight, these families, that the world seems to have forgotten. Because it is July 28. The calendar forces me to remember another July 28 back in 2010 when I first heard that Airblue Flight 202, an Airbus 321 with 152 souls aboard, had crashed into the Margalla Hills of Pakistan.
I have heard news that is troubling. That there are families who lost loved ones on Airblue Flight 202 that have still not received compensation. This does not seem just to me, but I am only one man. One man looking at the names of 152 dead, 152 souls whose families, whose lives were abruptly and violently changed. 152 souls multiplied by their families and loved ones. That is a wide reach, a lot of injured hearts and lives.
This is one of those corners of the world I have mentioned before, where life seems to be held cheaply. I grieve for the families‘ loss, the loved ones whose candles were snuffed out, whose birthday songs will never again be sung. Six crew; 119 men. 29 women; 5 children; 2 babies. I say to the victims, the world may have forgotten you. Pakistan, and Airblue may be sweeping you under the rug as if your lives never happened. But you are remembered. Your families have not, and will not forget you. Nor have I.
It is the duty of the living to cry out for justice. So I say this here and now, and hope that someone is listening. Let there be justice and compassion for the families of Airblue202. I never knew you, but I knew some of your families; and on this day of remembrance, this July 28, I will remember you. I will never forget you.
Sincerely,
George Hatcher
Consultant
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-681 made an emergency landing at Multan International Airport, Punjab, Pakistan, on May 30.
According to Civil Aviation authorities, the plane, en-route from Islamabad to Multan, had to declare an emergency due to prevailing dust storm of over 115 kilometers per hour and bursting of one of its front tires.
The plane landed safely. None of the passengers and crew members was hurt.
A Military helicopter crashed into a school in Naltar, near Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, on May 8.
The Mi-17 helicopter was transporting foreign dignitaries to the inauguration ceremony of a ski resort chairlift when it crashed and caught fire. Initial investigations reveal that the accident happened due to a mechanical fault in the helicopter.
There were 17 people aboard the aircraft at the time of the crash. Authorities confirmed that seven of them, including the Norwegian envoy Leif H Larsen, the Philippines ambassador Domingo D Lucenario, the wives of the Indonesian and Malaysian envoys, 2 Pakistan Air Force pilots and one technician, were killed.
Others, including the Dutch and Polish ambassadors, were injured and were airlifted to a local military hospital.
Shaheen Air flight NL-122 had to return and make an emergency landing at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 21.
The Boeing 737 took off for Karachi at 10:31 a.m., however, at 10:36 a.m., the pilot reported fire in one of its engines and requested an emergency landing.
The plane landed back safely at 10:43 a.m. All 174 passengers aboard remained unhurt.
A Pakistan International Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, Pakistan, on March 24.
Authorities said the plane, flying from Madina, Saudi Arabia, had to declare an emergency after its wheels jammed.
The plane landed safely and was towed to the terminal. All passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK758 had to make an emergency landing at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, Pakistan, on December 30.
The flight, en-route from London, United Kingdom, declared emergency after its landing gear became jammed.
The plane landed with only minor damage. None of the passengers and crew members was hurt.
Airport operations were temporarily suspended following the incident.
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK 521 had to return and make an emergency landing in Karachi, Pakistan, on December 11.
The ATR-42-500 aircraft, heading to Turbat, Balochistan, was forced to return after one of its engines failed.
The plane safely touched the runway at 7:40 a.m.
All the passengers and crew members remained unharmed.
Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-607 had to return and make an emergency landing at Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad, Pakistan on December 1.
The Gilgit-bound plane was forced to return after it developed a technical fault.
The flight landed uneventfully and everyone aboard remained unharmed.
A Pakistan Air Force plane crashed during a routine training flight near Karachi, Pakistan, late on November 21.
According to PAF spokesperson Air Commodore Tariq Mehmood, “Squadron leader Tanveer Ahmed embraced martyrdom when a Miraj aircraft crashed near Gadap Town around 30 nautical miles from Karachi.”
Witnesses reported that the plane caught fire before it went down.
The cause of crash is under investigation.
Emirates Airlines flight EK 609 was pulled off the runway at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport, just before takeoff at about 7:45 p.m. on October 4.
The Airbus 320 was ready to depart with 82 passengers aboard when the pilot detected smoke in the cockpit and called for emergency assistance. All the passengers and crew members were safely evacuated through chutes.
“All the passengers and crew members were evacuated and the plane has been parked on one side. No one was hurt,” said Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesperson Pervez George.
The airline said that the passengers were accommodated in another flight and the cause of smoke is being investigated.
A highly trained squad of Taliban attacked the Jinnah International Airport, in Karachi, Pakistan, shortly before midnight on June 8.
Wearing Airport Security Force uniforms, running shoes and large backpacks stuffed with water, dried fruits and heavy ammunition, a group of 10 insurgents arrived at the airport’s cargo terminal in two mini vans. They then started firing, entered the airport and split into two groups. One of them attacked the airport’s ‘Fokker’ gate as a diversion while the other assaulted the cargo terminal.
According to the authorities, the insurgents intended to reach the nearby passenger terminal, which at the time, was packed with hundreds of passengers and staff members. However, security forces, including paramilitary rangers, put up a strong resistance and did not let the attackers achieve their target.
The intense gun battle lasted more than five hours. Security forces killed 7 attackers. Three others died after they detonated the suicide-bomb belts they were wearing.
Authorities confirmed that in addition to the insurgents, at least 18 people, including airport security forces personnel and other airport employees, were killed in the incident. No passengers were harmed. All flights were diverted to other airports.
Claiming responsibility for the attack, the Taliban said it was a response to the recent air strikes in their area near Pak-Afghan border. Their motive was to hijack a passenger aircraft. A Taliban spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, said, “The main goal of this attack was to damage the government … by hijacking planes and destroying state installations…This was just an example of what we are capable of, and there is more to come. The government should be ready for even worse attacks.”
A training aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) crashed near an inter-city bus terminal in Yousuf Goth, Baldia Town, Karachi, at 12:05 p.m. on June 3, due to some unknown technical fault.
The PAF officials confirmed that both the pilots, Wing Commander Khurram Sammad and Squadron Leader Umair Elahi, lost their lives in the crash.
Two civilians, identified as Ali Akbar and Sajid Riyasat, were also killed in the incident. Three others suffered injuries and were taken to the hospital, however, they were released after a few hours.
The bodies, which were in parts and had sustained severe burns, were shifted to Civil Hospital, Karachi, for autopsies.
One of the witness Ali Ahmed said, “The aircraft was flying at a very low altitude before it crashed. It bounced off the roofs of several buses and broke through electricity poles.”
One bus was completely destroyed while four others got partially damaged. The engine of the aircraft is reported to have been on fire before it crashed. Fire fighters, however, reported in time and managed to control the fire before it could spread further.
PAF will provide adequate compensation for the loss of life and property and will fully cover medical expenses of the injured, as per its standard operational rules.
The Air Force Headquarters has formed a board to determine the cause of accident.
