View source for Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268

{{Short description|1992 aviation accident}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}

{{More citations needed|date=July 2009}}

{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| name            = Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268
| image           = Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268 Crashsite.jpg
| image_upright   = 
| alt             = 
| caption         = Wreckage of AP-BCP's tail section
| occurrence_type = Accident
| date            = {{start date|1992|09|28|df=y}}
| summary         = [[Controlled flight into terrain]] due to [[pilot error]]
| site            = [[Bhattedanda]], Nepal
| coordinates     = {{coord|27|31|58|N|85|17|05|E|region:NP_type:event|display=inline,title}}
| total_fatalities = <!-- Only for occurrences involving more than one aircraft or victims on the ground -->
| total_injuries  = 
| total_missing   = 
| total_survivors = 
| ground_fatalities = 
| ground_injuries = 
| aircraft_type   = [[Airbus A300|Airbus A300B4-203]]
| aircraft_name   = 
| operator        = [[Pakistan International Airlines]]
| IATA            = PK268
| ICAO            = PIA268
| callsign        = PAKISTAN 268
| tail_number     = AP-BCP
| origin          = [[Jinnah International Airport]]
| stopover        = 
| stopover0       = 
| last_stopover   = 
| destination     = [[Tribhuvan International Airport]]
| occupants       = 167
| passengers      = 155
| crew            = 12
| fatalities      = 167
| injuries        = 
| missing         = 
| survivors       = 0
}}
'''Pakistan International Airlines Flight 268''' was an [[Airbus A300]], [[Aircraft registration|registration]] {{Airreg|AP|BCP|,}} which [[Aviation accidents and incidents|crash]]ed while approaching [[Kathmandu]]'s [[Tribhuvan International Airport]] on 28 September 1992. All 167 people on board were killed. Flight 268 is the worst crash of [[Pakistan International Airlines]], and the worst ever to occur in [[Nepal]].<ref name="ASN" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Nepal air safety profile|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/country/country.php?id=9N|last=Ranter|first=Harro|website=aviation-safety.net|publisher=Aviation Safety Network|access-date=2019-02-11}}</ref>

== Aircraft and crew ==
[[File:A300B-Pia-AP-BCP-438.jpg|thumb| AP-BCP, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen at [[Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport]] in February 1992, about 7 months before the incident.]]
The aircraft involved was a 16-year-old Airbus A300B4-203 registered as AP-BCP (serial number 025). The aircraft was built in 1976 and flew its maiden flight on 23 March the same year. On 2 May 1977, the aircraft was delivered to [[Bavaria Germanair]], and was registered as D-AMAZ. About a week later, it was leased to [[EgyptAir]]. The aircraft was re-registered as SU-AZY and subsequently sold to [[Hapag-Lloyd Flug]] after its merger with [[Bavaria Germanair]]. The aircraft was then re-registered as D-AHLZ and leased to the following airlines:

* [[EgyptAir]] (January 1979{{snd}}October 1982)
* [[Kuwait Airways]] (April{{snd}}July 1983)
* [[Capitol Air]] (June{{snd}}October 1984)
* [[Air Jamaica]] (February{{snd}}April 1985)
* [[Condor Flugdienst]] (May{{snd}}November 1985)

On 21 April 1986, the aircraft was delivered to Pakistan International Airlines, and was re-registered as AP-BCP. The aircraft had a total of 39,045 flying hours and 19,172 landings at the time of the crash.<ref name="ASN" />

The captain was 49-year-old Iftikhar Janjua, who had 13,192 flight hours, including 6,260 hours on the Airbus A300. The first officer was 38-year-old Hassan Akhtar, who had 5,849 flight hours, with 1,469 of them on the Airbus A300. 

There were two flight engineers on board: one operating and the other observing. The operating flight engineer was an unnamed 40-year-old male who had 5,289 flight hours, with 2,516 of them on the Airbus A300. The observing flight engineer, 42-year-old Muhammad Ashraf, had 8,220 flight hours, including 4,503 hours on the Airbus A300.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://smhusain1.com/2018/05/24/pakistan-international-airlines-pk-268/|title=Human Factors: Pakistan International Airlines Flight Pk 268|date=2018-05-24|website=smhusain1's Blog|language=en|access-date=2019-10-17}}</ref>

==Accident==
Flight 268 departed [[Karachi]] at 11:13 AM [[Pakistan Standard Time]] for [[Kathmandu]].  Upon contacting Nepalese [[air traffic control]], the aircraft was cleared for an approach from the south called the ''Sierra approach''. An aircraft cleared to use this approach was at the time directed to pass over a reporting point called "Romeo" located 41 miles (66 km) south of the Kathmandu [[VHF omnidirectional range|VOR]] (or at ''41 [[Distance measuring equipment|DME]]'') at an altitude of 15,000 feet. The aircraft was to then descend in seven steps to 5,800 feet, passing over a reporting point known as "Sierra" located at 10 DME at an altitude of 9,500 feet, before landing at Kathmandu. This approach allowed aircraft to pass over the [[Mahabharat Range]] directly south of Kathmandu (the crest of which is located just north of the Sierra reporting point) at a safe altitude.

Shortly after reporting at 10 DME, at 2.30&nbsp;pm the aircraft crashed at approximately {{convert|7300|ft|m}} into the side of the 8,250&nbsp;ft (2,524&nbsp;m) mountain at [[Bhattedanda]], disintegrating on impact, instantly killing all aboard; the tail fin separated and fell into the forest at the base of the mountainside.<ref name=ASN>{{ASN accident|id=19920928-0}}</ref><ref name=Gero>{{cite book |first=David |last=Gero |title=Aviation Disasters: The World's Major Civil Airliner Crashes since 1950 |edition=3rd |location=Sparkford, nr. Yeovil, Somerset |publisher=Patrick Stephens (Haynes) |year=2000 |isbn=9781852606022 |page=[https://archive.org/details/aviationdisaster0000gero/page/232 232] |url=https://archive.org/details/aviationdisaster0000gero/page/232 }}</ref><ref name="Tim McGirk">{{cite news | first1=Tim | last1=McGirk | first2=Christian | last2=Wolmar | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/hunt-goes-on-for-black-box-in-airbus-wreckage-1554634.html | title=Hunt goes on for black box in Airbus wreckage | newspaper=[[The Independent]] | location=London | date=1 Oct 1992 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715071217/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/hunt-goes-on-for-black-box-in-airbus-wreckage-1554634.html | url-status=live | archive-date=15 Jul 2015 | access-date=2020-09-17}}</ref>

This accident occurred 59 days after [[Thai Airways International Flight 311]] crashed north of Kathmandu.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A310-304 HS-TID Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport (KTM)|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19920731-0|last=Ranter|first=Harro|website=aviation-safety.net|publisher=Aviation Safety Network|access-date=2019-02-11}}</ref>

==Victims==
Most of the victims were a mix of European, Nepalese and other nationalities.

{|class="wikitable"
|-style="background:#ccccff;"
!rowspan=1|Nationality||colspan=1|Passengers||colspan=1|Crew||colspan=1|Total
|-valign=top
|United Kingdom||style="text-align:center;"|36||{{n/a|-}}||style="text-align:center;"|36
|-valign=top
|Nepal||style="text-align:center;"|30||{{n/a|-}}||style="text-align:center;"|30
|-valign=top
|Spain||style="text-align:center;"|30||{{n/a|-}}||style="text-align:center;"|30
|-valign=top
|Pakistan||style="text-align:center;"|11||style="text-align:center;"|12||style="text-align:center;"|23
|-valign=top
|Netherlands||style="text-align:center;"|14||{{n/a|-}}||style="text-align:center;"|14
|-valign=top
|Other Europeans||style="text-align:center;"|14||{{n/a|-}}||style="text-align:center;"|14
|-valign=top
|Bangladesh||style="text-align:center;"|4||{{n/a|-}}||style="text-align:center;"|4
|-valign=top
|United States||style="text-align:center;"|3||{{n/a|-}}||style="text-align:center;"|3
|-valign=top
|Canada||style="text-align:center;"|2||{{n/a|-}}||style="text-align:center;"|2
|-valign=top
|Unknown|| style="text-align:center;" |2||{{n/a|-}}||style="text-align:center;"|2
|-valign=top
|Japan||style="text-align:center;"|1||{{n/a|-}}||style="text-align:center;"|1
|-valign=top
|New Zealand||style="text-align:center;"|1||{{n/a|-}}||style="text-align:center;"|1
|-valign=top
|'''Total'''||style="text-align:center;"|'''155'''||style="text-align:center;"|'''12'''||style="text-align:center;"|'''167<ref name="Tim McGirk" />'''
|}

==Investigation and causes==
After the crash, the Nepali Military assisted with investigators to find the aircraft's [[Flight recorder|black box]]. The investigation was handled by Andrew Robinson from the [[Air Accident Investigation Branch]] (AAIB). The black box was initially sent to Paris for decoding.<ref name="Aviation Nepal">{{Cite web |date=28 July 2020 |title=Pakistan International Airlines, Flight PK 268, an unknown mystery |url=https://www.aviationnepal.com/pakistan-international-airlines-flight-pk-268-an-unknown-mystery/ |website=Aviation Nepal}}</ref>

At the time of impact, eye witnesses near the accident site confirmed that there was little to no wind, rain, and no thunderstorms in the area. Investigators found no technical problems documented for the A300 and, after considering it as a cause, subsequently ruled out terrorism.<ref name="Aviation Nepal" />

Although no pertinent flight deck conversation was recovered from Flight 268's [[cockpit voice recorder]] by investigators with the [[Transportation Safety Board of Canada]] (TSB), which assisted with the investigation, data recovered from the [[flight data recorder]] by the TSB showed that the aircraft initiated each step of its descent one step too early.<ref name=Gero/> At 16 DME the aircraft was a full 1,000 feet below its cleared altitude; at 10 DME (the Sierra reporting point) it was 1,300 feet below its cleared altitude.  The aircraft approached the Mahabharat Range at an insufficient altitude and crashed into the south slope.<ref name=ASN/> Although the pilots of Flight 268 reported their aircraft's altitude accurately to [[air traffic control]], controllers did nothing to warn them of their inappropriate altitude until seconds before the accident.<ref name=Gero/>

Investigators determined that the accident had been caused mainly by pilot error. Visibility was poor due to overcast and the [[ground proximity warning system]] would not have been triggered in time because of the steep terrain.<ref name=Gero/> The [[instrument approach|approach plate]]s for Kathmandu issued to PIA pilots were also determined to be unclear,<ref name=ASN/><ref name=Gero/> and Nepalese air traffic controllers were judged timid and reluctant to intervene in what they saw as piloting matters such as terrain separation.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1992-09-30 |title=Airbus crash blamed on pilot error |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/airbus-crash-blamed-on-pilot-error-1554557.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=2018-02-10 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/airbus-crash-blamed-on-pilot-error-1554557.html |archive-date=24 May 2022}}</ref> The report recommended that [[International Civil Aviation Organization|ICAO]] review navigational charts and encourage their standardisation, and that the approach to Kathmandu Airport be changed to be less complex.<ref name=Gero/>

==Memorials==
PIA paid for - and maintains - the Lele PIA Memorial Park at [[Lele, Nepal|Lele]], at the foot of a mountain about 10km north of the crash site.<ref name=memorial>{{cite web |first=Fazal |last=Khaliq |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1213722 |title=PIA memorial park in Nepal honours 1992 air crash victims |website=Dawn |date=17 October 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/air-crash-relatives-arrive-in-nepal-1554857.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/air-crash-relatives-arrive-in-nepal-1554857.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Air crash relatives arrive in Nepal|date=1992-10-02|work=The Independent|access-date=2018-02-10|language=en-GB}}</ref>

The Wilkins Memorial Trust, a UK charitable organisation that provides aid to Nepal, was established in memory of a family killed in the crash.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wmt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/WMT-Autumn-07-2.pdf |title=WMT |work=WMT News |date=Autumn 2007 |volume=19 |type=pdf |access-date=10 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510160530/http://www.wmt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/WMT-Autumn-07-2.pdf |archive-date=10 May 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Dramatization ==
The accident is featured in the first episode of Season 20 of ''[[Mayday (Canadian TV series)|Mayday]],'' also known as ''Air Crash Investigation.'' The episode is titled "Kathmandu Descent".<ref>{{IMDB title|9904846}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft]]
* [[Thai Airways International Flight 311]]
* [[Garuda Indonesia Flight 152]]
* [[List of airplane accidents in Nepal]]
* [[Off-by-one error]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |first=Macarthur |last=Job |author-link=Macarthur Job |title=Air Disaster |volume=3 |publisher=Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. (Australia) |year=1998 |isbn=1-875671-34-X |pages=98–115 }}
{{refend}}

{{Aviation incidents and accidents in 1992}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Nepal}}
{{Pakistan International Airlines}}
{{Portal bar|Nepal|Pakistan|Aviation|Modern history}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pia Flight 268}}
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Nepal]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1992]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A300]]
[[Category:Pakistan International Airlines accidents and incidents|268]]
[[Category:1992 in Nepal]]
[[Category:History of Nepal (1951–2008)]]
[[Category:September 1992 events in Asia]]
[[Category:1992 disasters in Nepal]]