From: bhuttam@woods.ulowell.edu (Bilal A. Bhutta  aka The Nukeman)
Subject: Update: PIA Jet Crash (Sept 28,92)
Organization: Nuclear Eng. Dept, UMass-Lowell
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 21:25:35 GMT


UPDATE: PAKISTANI JETLINER CRASH IN NEPAL KILLS 167; THREE AMERICANS ABOARD 
KATMANDU, Nepal (SEPT. 28) UPI - A Pakistan International Airlines jetliner 
crashed into a hillside southeast of the Nepalese capital Monday and burst into 
flames, killing 12 crew members and 155 passengers, including dozens of Western 
tourists, said Home Ministry officials and other government sources. 

   The crash of PIA Flight PK-268 was the worst to ever occur in Nepal. The 
disaster came just one month after a Thai jetliner crashed while on approach to
Kathmandu International Airport, which lacks radar systems, in what was then
the country's most deadly air accident. 

   The control tower lost contact with the PIA French-made Airbus 310 jetliner 
at 2:29 p.m. as it approached Katmandu airport. Rescue workers found the burning
wreckage on a 6,000-foot hillside near Lete village, about 10 miles southeast 
of the capital, a Home Ministry source said. The plane had been flying at 8,200 
feet shortly before the crash, the Home Ministry said. 

   "There are no survivors. Army and other personnel have reached the accident 
site," the source said. "The aircraft is burning and rescue teams are trying to
retrieve bodies from the burning crash site," the source added.
 
   A passenger list for Flight PK-268 obtained by United Press International 
showed there were three Americans aboard the flight as well as 38 Spaniards, 
34 Britons, 29 Nepalis, 21 Pakistanis, 13 Dutch, two French, two Italians, 
two Swiss, two Canadians and two Bangladeshis.
 
   Rescue workers had recovered the bodies of at least 12 people by 7:15 p.m. 
The Home Ministry said relatives could begin identifying and claiming the bodies
of those killed in the crash at 11 a.m. at the Katmandu International Airport.
 
   A spokesman for PIA said Flight PK-268 was traveling from Karachi, Pakistan, 
to Dhaka, Bangladesh, with a scheduled stop in Katmandu at 2:45 p.m. A PIA
spokesman said 83 passengers originated their trip in Karachi, while the
remainder transferred to the plane from other arriving flights. 

   Three villagers from the area reported locating the crashed airliner at 
3:40 p.m. Officials said the wreckage was found on the southeastern edge of 
the Katmandu Aalley and that helicopters from the Royal Nepalese Army were at 
the scene of the crash. 

   One official said villagers near the scene heard a loud bang before seeing 
the aircraft crash. The crash site is about 30 minutes' hike from the nearest 
road near the village of Lete, which is connected to the Nepalese capital by 
road.

   A Katmandu airport official said weather conditions were clear at the time 
of the plane's disappearance, and that it was under normal operations. PIA has 
set up an emergency center at Karachi airport to provide information for 
distressed relatives and friends, the official said. 

   A PIA official said a relief flight would be sent to Katmandu Tuesday 
morning. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directed PIA to "make all efforts 
to retrieve the bodies and help the relatives and friends of the victims." 

  The PIA official said there is no radar at Katmandu airport, and that air 
traffic controllers were using radio to guide the plane in. 

   The crash came two months after 113 people died when a Thai International 
airbus slammed into a cliff 20 miles northwest of the capital on July 31. That 
accident, also involving a French-made Airbus, was Nepal's worst air disaster 
until Monday's crash. 

  A team studying the Thai International crash said preliminary findings 
indicate a fault in the flaps may have caused the crash. 


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