What happened
On the evening of 23 August 2000, Gulf Air flight GF072, an Airbus A320-212 registered as A4O-EK, was conducting a scheduled international service from Cairo to Bahrain. While executing a VOR/DME approach for Runway 12 at Bahrain International Airport, the flight crew requested and received permission to perform a left-hand orbit. Following this maneuver, the captain elected to perform a go-around. During this process, the crew accepted radar vectors from air traffic control and transitioned to a north-easterly heading while climbing to approximately 1,000 feet.
As the aircraft gained speed, a master warning indicated that the flaps had exceeded their speed limit. During this phase of flight, the aircraft began a rapid descent. The ground proximity warning system issued repeated pull-up alerts, but the aircraft struck the water approximately 3 miles north-east of the airport. The impact resulted in 143 fatalities and no survivors.
Findings
Investigations into the accident suggested that the flight crew likely suffered from spatial disorientation during the go-around maneuver. This condition may have led the captain to incorrectly believe the aircraft was pitching upward, prompting a nose-down input that initiated the fatal descent. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact with the sea.