Accident Boeing 720-040B AP-AMH,
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Date:Thursday 20 May 1965
Time:01:48
Type:Silhouette image of generic B720 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Boeing 720-040B
Owner/operator:Pakistan International Airlines - PIA
Registration: AP-AMH
MSN: 18379/321
Year of manufacture:1962
Engine model:Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3B
Fatalities:Fatalities: 121 / Occupants: 127
Aircraft damage: Destroyed, written off
Category:Accident
Location:ca 20 km S of Cairo International Airport (CAI) -   Egypt
Phase: Approach
Nature:Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:Dhahran International Airport (DHA/OEDR)
Destination airport:Cairo International Airport (CAI/HECA)
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
A Boeing 720-040B passenger plane, operated by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was destroyed when it crashed while on approach to Cairo International Airport (CAI), Egypt. All 13 crew members and 108 passengers were killed. Six passengers survived.
Flight PK705 was the inaugural service from Karachi, Pakistan to London, U.K. Intermediate stops were planned at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Cairo, Egypt and Geneva, Switzerland.
The flight departed Dhahran at 21:22 UTC for Cairo. The flight was uneventful and at 23:40 UTC, 01:40 local time, it was cleared for a left-hand circuit for runway 34. At 23:45 the crew reported turning on finals. The Boeing 720 kept descending and struck the ground short of the runway in a slight left-bank attitude with its undercarriage up and flaps at 20 degrees.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The aircraft did not maintain the adequate height for the circuit and continued to descend until it contacted the ground. The reason for that abnormal continuation of descent is unknown."

Sources:

ICAO Circular 88-AN/74 Vol I (113-117)

Location

Images:


photo (c) Jerry Hughes; London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL); 1963

Revision history:

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