From: joshee@titan.ucc.umass.edu (Jeetendra R. Joshee)
Subject: Re: Plane crash, about 160 died
Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 21:50:50 GMT

In article <BvB4un.3yn@nic.umass.edu> joshee@titan.ucc.umass.edu (Jeetendra R. Joshee) writes:
>In article <92272.153932U15297@uicvm.uic.edu> Shyamala Parameswaran <U15297@uicvm.uic.edu> writes:
>>=========================================================================
>>Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 10:52:02 PDT
>>
>>        KATMANDU, Nepal (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 those aboard the flight included about 30
>>Spaniards, 13 Italians, 35 Nepalese, 35 Pakistanis and at least one
>>Japanese. A spokesman for the British Foreign Office in London said at
>>least five Britons were aboard.
>>        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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