What happened
On April 20, 2012, a domestic flight operated by Bhoja Air, identified as Flight BHO-213, was traveling from Jinnah International Airport in Karachi to Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad. The aircraft, a Boeing 737-236A with registration AP-BKC, departed Karachi at 17:05 PST. At the time of the incident, the weather conditions at the destination airport were characterized by thunderstorms and gusty winds.
As the aircraft approached Runway 30 at Islamabad, it was following an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach. While the flight was established on the approach and approximately 6 miles from the runway, the Approach Radar instructed the crew to switch to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) Tower frequency for final landing instructions. Although the crew transitioned to the tower frequency and received clearance to land, they failed to acknowledge the landing clearance. The ATC Tower attempted to repeat the instructions, but no response was received from the cockpit.
Shortly thereafter, tower controllers received a report from a local resident regarding an aircraft crash near the Hussain Abad area, located roughly 4 nautical miles short of the runway. It was subsequently confirmed that the aircraft had crashed, resulting in 127 fatalities and the total destruction of the plane.
Findings
- The aircraft was operating in severe weather conditions involving thunderstorms and wind gusts.
- The flight crew failed to respond to landing clearance communications from the ATC Tower.