PIA Boeing 707 Crash in Taif - Saudi Arabia

[AP-BGL]

Amaad, have you ever seen the name of the website on which this forum has been developed...? I guess not, let me tell you its HISTORY of PIA. We can certainly discuss the issues which are related to PIA in anyway. That accident is a history now and there nothing wrong if someone is discussing PIA's history.

I seriously dint want to reply to this thread in this way, but your last couple of posts made me understand you the actual purpose of this Forum.

[ConnieMan]

The aircraft was at cruising altitude.

It is not difficult to find out which SAMs were in the Saudi military back in 1979.

Probably Hawks supplied by the US.

What is the range of Saudi SAMs?

Can they hit an airliner flying at 33,000 or even 25,000 feet???

Any views on this point.

Now you are being good...

I am not sure what type of automatic SAM's Saudi military had in those years so i can't tell you their range envelope.

I personally don't think AP-AWZ was hit at ^^ those heights, it must have descended into NO FLY Zone at lower altitudes range when it was fired upon by SAMs..

Do you know of any website where types of Saudi missiles could be looked up from late 70s and early 80s era?

Off course Saudis are equipped with US military equipment so if Hawks were US then they could be it...i don't have knowledge of the type that was used....

[captain_salman]

Atleast the awareness is being spread here! And since its History of PIA I don't think that we need to go to any government's office for answers!! for our aviation's historical facts! And if that specific government was that responsible to give us the answers we need than this case would've been solved more than 2 decades back! if they were to judge fare than nobody would have died in the first place! So its NOT a mystery like Serlock Holmes we are all trying to solve here! But we are trying to unleash the other side of the picture which is shown to the world about this crash!! A false-play which is done on a high-level basis!! Its for the souls of those innocent who died with no reason! and our flag carrier's image as a whole!

[ConnieMan]

Salman and Adnan guys chill out, i'm sure he got the message and he atleast won't do it again...

I have more questions now.

1) I would like to know where are the black boxes from this crash, are they with Saudis or are in Pakistan?

2) I also would like to know what procedures pilots have to follow when "MAY DAY" is called as im sure they still would have to follow fire extinguishing procedures and such. Were there NO on board fire extinguishers in the cabin on PIA's B707-340s back then?

Pilot members on here, let see what you guys have to say on this.
What are PIA's procedures in event of on board fire in Cabin on a flight?

[ConnieMan]

Is there anyway we can get passenger manifest with names of all passengers and crew on board this doomed flight?...

[AP-BGL]

I guess PIA headquarters maintains the list.... You need to approach them in anyway to have the information.

[captain_salman]

Yes, and PIA HQ will not disclose them to public now I guess , I had been to PIA Dirstrict office in Lahore, they are not willing to talk on this subject for some strange reason!

[SalamPaks]

Is there anyway we can get passenger manifest with names of all passengers and crew on board this doomed flight?...

I have the list in a box in my attic in London. I will look for it when I am there in May.

[ConnieMan]

Yes, and PIA HQ will not disclose them to public now I guess , I had been to PIA Dirstrict office in Lahore, they are not willing to talk on this subject for some strange reason!

They are hiding something HUGE that they don't want people to know is my strongest gutt feeling about it!!, not to worry sooner or later it has to come out...

[ConnieMan]

Is there anyway we can get passenger manifest with names of all passengers and crew on board this doomed flight?...

I have the list in a box in my attic in London. I will look for it when I am there in May.

SalamPaks, that would be super, we'll wait for you to get back to us and me.

[SalamPaks]

Is there anyway we can get passenger manifest with names of all passengers and crew on board this doomed flight?...

I have the list in a box in my attic in London. I will look for it when I am there in May.

SalamPaks, that would be super, we'll wait for you to get back to us and me.

I recall that it wasn't a very long list. I think it was two columns, running one full page with perhaps 7 or 8 names on the reverse.

[ConnieMan]

Another twist to this story, i was just talking on Yahoo messenger with another member of HOP who once in while post on here, he may join in but he also said, this aircraft was Shot down by Saudi Hawk SAM and it's captain was Khalid Wayn!, he also said Saudi's gave PIA Airbus as compensation towards B707 lost..

I did saw them.....some officers including ppl from AIR FORCE i spke with confirmed that and PIA got Airbus replacement from Saudis.

Abbas can you verify if any Airbus was given to PIA by Saudis in those days or was one bought by Saudis and transferred to PIA directly from Airbus Industries..It would be A300B4 then...

[Moin]

The aircraft was at cruising altitude.

It is not difficult to find out which SAMs were in the Saudi military back in 1979.

Probably Hawks supplied by the US.

What is the range of Saudi SAMs?

Can they hit an airliner flying at 33,000 or even 25,000 feet???

Any views on this point.

Yes. I think everyone is just jumping the gun, not to mention the wrong conclusions here. Just because Wikipedia says that sabotage was also a 'possibility' does not mean that it is a fact. It was merely also taken into consideration. In every air accident investigation, sabotage is always considered till it is ruled out. If no confirmed cause of the crash is found, then several factors are taken into consideration, but the fact that a missile shot down this a/c is being a bit far fetched. All that is left now is for someone to go and blame India for this as well.

TWA 800 crashed due to the vapours in the center fuel tank and high temperatures. The Swissair MD-11 also crashed due to a fire on board cause by the overheating IFE system. Watch Air Crash Investigation or Seconds from Disaster on youtube on how these disasters took place and I'm going to take their word for it on what happened and not rely on rumours, gossip, heresay and conspiracy theories. The Saudi's probably have their own reasons for restricting access to the crash site but that does not automatically mean it was sabotage on their part.

[Amaad Lone]

Abbas can you verify if any Airbus was given to PIA by Saudis in those days or was one bought by Saudis and transferred to PIA directly from Airbus Industries..It would be A300B4 then...

PIA order four A300-B4200s from Airbus Industrie in 1978, much before the Taif crash. These planes were delivered in March 1980.

Besides if the Saudis did shoot down the 707, there were a hundred ways to pay compensation to Pakistan.

The best way would be free oil.

All you will find is speculation and unproven theories. The only people who will know what really happened will never come on this forum and tell the public the reality.

[kashan]

Wrong Moin, TWA was mistakenly shot down by US Navy and there is a big cover up, over 500 people saw something like a missile hit the aircraft.