Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Monday, 28 Sep 1992 15:39:32 CDT
From: Shyamala Parameswaran <U15297@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: Plane crash, about 160 died

=========================================================================
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.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian