Bhoja Air Boeing 737 Down Near Chaklala, Rawalpindi

[bhattman]

Our prayers are with the departed, may allah grant them the highest place in Jannat.

My Personal Experience States that, Either it is a Micro Burst, or By the Looks of the Scattered Debris of the 732, Aircraft Disintegrated while on Approach and Fell from the Sky.

What is a Micro Burst?

[Abbas Ali]

What is a Micro Burst?

Information can be found on following link.

Link: Microburst

Abbas

[R.F.]

Very tragic and sad, my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.

A bit premature at this stage to speculate, it appears that weather was the main factor. The preliminary reports suggest a strong down draft probably a wind shear or worst a microburst which is not un usual in a mature stage of a thunderstorm activity. Since the bits and pieces haven't been put together as yet, don't know why wasn't a diversion contemplated as may be fuel was a factor.

Since the on board systems did not have a predictive windshear detection, pilot reports, wind gusts and rapidly changing surface wind can provide with some indications. Generally in shear conditions which are mostly localized and extend from the surface unto 3000 - 5000 feet in some cases, may have strong head wind,accompanied by rapidly changing tail winds deteriorating aircraft performance significantly and in some cases exceeding the aircraft performance capabilities.

Therefore the best course of action is to either wait it out if the fuel conditions allow, or divert. If on ground delay take off.

With the onset of monsoons these conditions are quite prevail ant in the sub continent and the far east.

[Abbas Ali]

Two different Flight Recorders recovered from crash site shown on Geo News.

Apparently one of them is Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the other one is Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR). Both devices were recovered from crash site last night but CVR was handed over to relevant authorities today.

FDR ?


CVR ? Shown as the device handed over to relevant authorities today.


Btw, in DG CAA media briefing today there was no mention of any communication by cockpit crew to ATC about any problem with the aircraft before it vanished from radar screen and crashed.

The aircraft had landing gear in down position at the time of accident for landing on Runway 30. Some news channels also showed tyre marks at a place where aircraft hit the ground.


ISLAMABAD - APRIL 21 - PIA Boeing 747-367 (AP-BGG) at Benazir Bhutto International Air Port (BBIAP), Islamabad, after arriving as flight PK-300 from Karachi on April 21. Passengers of this flight included 94 relatives of Bhoja Air crash victims who were given free air tickets by PIA.

Today in the morning, PIA upgraded 7:00AM Karachi to Islamabad flight PK-300 equipment from an Airbus A310-300 to Boeing 747-300 to accommodate Bhoja Air crash victims' relatives for air travel to Islamabad. PIA flight carried 94 relatives of crash victims. Free air tickets were given by PIA to relatives of air crash victims.

PIA flights are transporting bodies of crash victims from Islamabad to Karachi free of charge.

AirBlue and Bhoja Air flights also have transported crash victims' bodies from Islamabad to Karachi.

Meanwhile, a judicial commission has been formed to investigate Bhoja Air crash. A Pakistan CAA team is already formed to investigate the accident.

Abbas

[Moin]

Bhoja is still flying?? I thought all their ops were grounded with immediate effect.

[bhattman]

Thanks for the link Abbas bhai!

It is very touching to see PIA are carrying the bodies back free of charge as well as helping in the movement of the relatives. I think at times of tragedy like this the whole nation should come together.

[Abbas Ali]

^ You're welcome.

According to Express News channel programme 'To the Point' host Shahzaib Khanzada, an eye witness told him that Bhoja Air aircraft was not on fire when it made first contact with the ground where aircraft's landing gear tyres also left their mark. Then after hitting bumpy ground and a tree, the Boeing 737 bumped into the air and exploded and its pieces fell on the ground. If it's true, then microbust/windshear becomes most possible cause of this accident.

Btw, Bhoja Air website www.bhojaair.com.pk is not available at the moment.

The crash may prove to be a killing blow for this small-scale airline. Claims and lawsuits by relatives of crash victims can also hit the airline financially particularly if it does not have strong financial backing/resources.

Abbas

[raihans]

^ some while back i viewed this program as well and my understandings seems to be like most probably micro burst caused the aircraft to loose altitude, having a bumpy landing it raised back again in air and then got burst due to engine or some part of wing on fire. But questions comes to mind that whether the fire ignited after it first hit the ground which ruptured the fuel tank and it turn into ball of flame while in the air? Another question in mind, why there was not much fire after viewing the footage of crash site; whether there was insufficient fuel for alternative?

lets see what judicial commission get into conclusion after the inquiry is complete. Most of the clue will be revealed from the CVR and DFDR itself.

[Abbas Ali]

Bhoja Air website available at www.bhojaair.com.pk/home

Btw, it seems after the crash, Bhoja Air has retired flight number B4-213.

The Karachi-Islamabad flight number B4-213 has been replaced by B4-215. The flight's departure time from Karachi remains unchanged at 5:00PM.

Similarly Islamabad-Karachi flight number B4-214 has been replaced by flight number B4-216.

News channels were reporting transportation of some bodies of crash victims by Bhoja Air flight number B4-216 from Islamabad to Karachi on April 21.

Abbas

[SaadSaeed]

Was watching air crash investigation and the similarity is remarkable in this 1988 TACA Airlines Flight 110 incident.

May their souls rest in peace.

[saadm80]

^ some while back i viewed this program as well and my understandings seems to be like most probably micro burst caused the aircraft to loose altitude, having a bumpy landing it raised back again in air and then got burst due to engine or some part of wing on fire. But questions comes to mind that whether the fire ignited after it first hit the ground which ruptured the fuel tank and it turn into ball of flame while in the air? Another question in mind, why there was not much fire after viewing the footage of crash site; whether there was insufficient fuel for alternative?

lets see what judicial commission get into conclusion after the inquiry is complete. Most of the clue will be revealed from the CVR and DFDR itself.

I Would be Personally interested in The Fuel Sheet of the Flight. I have a Doubt, that There was no Diversion Fuel in case they (732) had to Divert to LHE due to Weather or any other Operational Restrictions, as per Bhoja Air Flight plan, which was filled with ATC, Their Alternate was (OPLA), and not (OPNH), as stated by "Some News Channels".

I am Still Sure, 732 Went down Due to Micro Burst, and i would stand by my Statement.

[nopy99]

What is a Micro Burst?

Information can be found on following link.

Link: Microburst

Abbas

Someone has already edited wikipedia and stated that the bhoja flight crash is attributed to microburst.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microburst ... o_aircraft

[Criticalmach]

Aslam o Alekum,
I am a frequent visitor of this forum but a rare contributor. As a matter of fact this should be my first post. Anyway, it is unfortunate that this tragic event became my reason to post. I would like to keep this brief and to the point. I would like to raise following questions and comments. My apologies in advance for any questions or comments that may come across invalid. Just to highlight my experience, I am current airline regional pilot in USA with 1+ year of commercial passenger flying and 2+ years of instructing.

A. I am currently in Pakistan for visit and I find the reaction and broadcast of Pakistani media to be very sophomoric and pre-mature. I base my analysis on the animations and jumping to conclusions due to lack of evidence.
B. If lightening strikes were to crash airplanes, I would have died in 2004 when Saudi Airlines airplane flew through TRSA and No. 4 engine was struck by lightening. This happened in Washington DC airspace. Furthermore, there are several lightening strike incident on airplanes (http://www.avherald.com) on weekly or monthly basis. I have piloted my self a passenger aircraft that was also struck by lightening recently. Neither of the airplanes I witnessed incurred any visible damage. We did declare and land as a precautionary measure.
C. After watching the video footage of crash site and reading Metars and TAFs of that present time, I am also in agreement with others the suspicion of Micro Burst on final. If I recall correctly there was an incident of Delta airlines that crashed due to micros burst on final approach.
D. Given my lack of knowledge on 737-200's, I am really curious to learn about its weather radar system.

Lastly, us pilots in United States are very fortunate to have state of the art weather detection equipment installed on airports. For instance Denver international has wind shear alert system along with microburst detection system. I really wish and pray that Pakistani government uses this crash as a lesson and take necessary steps to install better weather detection equipment to alert pilots. May Allah grant Hannah to those who perished and offer patience to those who lost their loved ones. Ameen.

Edit: I have not had a chance to read all the posts by fellow members. It is likely my points or questions may have been already discussed in previous posts.

[irfan khan]

[TAILWIND]

I was reading an Airbus publication on Windshear and the only remedy was, AVOID. The recovery techniques though given were sort of last ditch action, which IMO are unlikely to ensure recovery unless you are very lucky.
I agree with the opinion of Criticalmach, yet would like to add that in a country (an atomic power on top of that) none of the international airports have ILS on both ends of the rwy, expecting a winshear detection on airports is like dreaming for moon.
It is not a failure of an airline, one pilot or indeed one aircraft. It is the menifestation of the collective decay and de-generation our state, nation and the society has undergone in past 64 years.
We will find in the inquiry that all concerned departments i.e the airline, ATC, CAA etc have all their files complete, all procedure followed, all regulations met, no one to be blamed for thier part in the tragedy.