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Khaqan Khawer / EPA
Relatives await the remains of victims from a Boeing 737 crash in Islamabad at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Science on Friday. A Bhoja Air plane carrying 127 passengers and crew crashed as it approached landing in Islamabad, killing all on board.
A Pakistani airliner crashed just short of landing in Islamabad on Friday, killing all 127 people aboard, the country's Civil Aviation Authority told NBC on Friday.
The Boeing 737 operated by Bhoja Air was flying in from Karachi, the country’s biggest city and business hub, in heavy rain when it broke up, scattering wreckage and bodies across courtyards and roofs of a residential area near the airport, witnesses and authorities said.
"There were 122 passengers and five crew members," said Pervez George, a spokesman for government agency.
Bhoja Air had been closed down a decade ago after running into financial difficulties and being unable to make payments to civilian Pakistani aviation authorities. It resumed flying March 6, but Friday’s flight from Karachi to Islamabad was the first on that route since then.
The flight data recorder has been located, NBC’s Fakhar Rehman reported from Islamabad, and the so-called or "black box" was expected to reveal why the plane went down. But the apparent cause was that pilots were flying low under heavy clouds and hit high-tension wires as they approached Benazir Bhutto International Airport, he said.
Bhoja Air said the airplane crashed during its approach in Islamabad due to bad weather," Reuters reported. There was no indication from the government that it could have been the result of foul play.
Parts of the aircraft smashed into electricity poles, blanketing the area in darkness.
Rescue workers were trying to recover bodies from the charred wreckage of Flight B4-213, Rehman reported, but darkness and rain were making it difficult.
Police said 70 bodies had been transported to hospitals.
"Kids were playing in courtyard of my house when suddenly we saw something falling in our court yards with fire," said Mumtaz Ali, a resident of Hussain Abad in the outskirts of Islamabad where the plane crashed. "You can see the wreckage on the roof and back yard too. Thank God nobody on the ground was injured or killed as people were inside their homes because of rain."
Islamabad police chief Bani Yameen said nobody on the ground was reported killed, "but apparently all on board perished," according to Reuters.
At the airport people awaiting passengers thronged the airline counter.
A man who had been waiting at the airport for the flight yelled, “My two daughters are dead,'' as tears streamed down his face, according to Reuters, while others awaiting passengers crowded around lists of those on board.
Pakistan army chief vows not to give up on avalanche victims
Nearby, relatives of passengers hugged each other and sobbed. One man cried, "my kids, my kids," Reuters said.
Zarina Bibi was desperately trying to determine if her husband was among the passengers of the ill-fated plane.
A Pakistani passenger jet with 127 people on board crashed as it was landing in bad weather at an airport near Islamabad. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
"He called me before leaving Karachi, but I don't know if he was on this flight or not," said Bibi told the news agency.
The last major aviation accident in Pakistan occurred in July 2010, when a commercial airliner operated by AirBlue with 152 people on board crashed into the hills overlooking Islamabad.
In 2006, a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft crashed near the central city of Multan, killing 45 people.
In a statement on its website Boeing Company said it "wishes to extend its profound condolences to the families and friends'' of the Bhoja Air passengers.
NBC News' Carol Grisanti contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
God hates Pakistan! No more US money and stop all cooperation on any level!
Holy moly Allen! This is traggic, may God be with them in such a horrific situation.
Stay classy Al.
allen ...I'll bet you were all giddy with excitement to be the first one to post that purely idiotic statement. You have succeeded in removing any doubt as to your stupidity ....
Nice Allen. Your mother must be so proud to have raised such a compassionate person.
Nice job Allen, you participation has lowered the average I.Q. by 10 points
Blog police everywhere, what is one to do.
A$sholes like you should have been in that plane.
K. Snider
I doubt it. His mother was probably more concerned about when her "lil Allen" would return from the qwik-mart with her six pack of PBR, pack of Kools, Twinkies, Hohos, and Snowballs.
Careful Allen, your Christian values are showing.
Really Alex, was that called for?
God and Hate in the same sentence, showing just how Christian you are!
You must feel like such a man posting such stupid asinine and cowardly comments. No wonder the world hates the U.S. Douchebags like you give everyone else a bad name... Who ever keeps making these pricks can you PLEASE brake the mold already. I keep meeting the same ignorant, fearful, brainwashed people.
To all those who generalize Christians based on Allen's statement, you are no less ignorant than he is.
My money is on the Taliban. There seems to be a real offensive going on, but lets get back to Trayvon.
Could be, but my money is on the weather or possibly poor maintenance. I doubt Pakistani Airlines (or whatever they're called) has the best safety record in the world.
And yes, we can never have enough baseless speculation about Trayvon.
.
crazy blog police. Censorship happens in more places than China.
Must be offended by the word Trayvon.
I'm with AG99, seeing as how the article does state it was flying in bad weather.
Yep. Probably the work of Islamofascists. Iran probably has its fingerprints on this one.
Who is Trayvon?
Tyavon is the nigga that the wetback killed. It was incited by the camel jocks and made public by the Jew media.
why collapse my comment. If you collapse my comment, the terrorist win.
You want to get back to Trayvon then start your own thread Ray.
lol, quite a discrepancy there. That's like saying, "Holy sh-t, a train just derailed! Well, either a train or a Geo Metro. Either/or."
I didn't think the regular Joe could afford to fly over there.... With all the added suitcase bomb fees and all.
Hpw do 127 people fit in a helicopter?
Actually, and kinda ironically, a Russian Mi-26 helicopter carrying 127 people crashed in Chechnya 10 years ago.
I'd be more interested to see who was on the plane...was there a high ranking al queda, or pakistani official, were there some weapons dealers, or some defectors stealing secrets?...I wouldn't just blame weather....course i still don't believe bin laden is dead.
I can see that Coyote. It's well known that 1 terrorist life is worth 100 innocent if not more.
My first thought when i read the headline was that someone blew up the plane bin laden's wives and children were on.
Chris, have you any idea how funny that is, given how overcrowded some of those public transportation can be? A helicopter with 127 passengers?
On a more serious note, this is a tragedy and it increases my fear of flying even more. My condolences to the families.
PAK in tightly
My condolences to the relatives. Very sad.
No matter what you think of the government over there, these were just average people flying from one city to another the way hundreds of thousands of people do every day all over the world. This is not a place to start with political rhetoric. It is sad to see so many people die in a plane crash like this. I feel for their friends and family. At least this appears to have been caused by bad weather and is not the result of some terrorist act.
The africans tried to end racism, sadly, It didn't work...
It's dangerous flying in Pakistan. There's always the danger of a surveillance drone getting sucked into the engines...
Another idiot reply!
I thought it was kind of funny.
nice to know at least one person has a sense of humor :-)
I wonder how long before we have to start have Drone Advisory Warnings for flights. I can just see it now:
"Today 10 flights out of LAX were canceled because of an unusually large flock of unmanned drones flying in the area"
i know it's wrong but i laughed so hard at that. well, a while back a drone did smack a c-130 over iraq. it can and has happened.
Racist alert. Did a Paki steal your Mom's beloved girlfriend?
Forget the politics folks ....These are innocent people. It really is tragic .
Amen to that.
who the hell are you the post police? get a life
Blog police everywhere.
Pvaldes has a life and concern for human beings. You DUbanski seem to be full of piss and vinegar. Have a great day spreading your cheer.
@ Urbanski/ Ray .........It is sad to see so many witless people post hate filled comments just to get attention. See that little exclamation point on the right side of your posts ?? It's there for dimwits like you .....
you're a witless person. I couldn't use caps because it is a law of the universe that it signifies yelling.
But I don't control the voices in your head.
That's a hell of a way to go through life Ray ......all that hate. It's like poison man.....you're killing yourself .
PValdes-
Is that a picture of Geronimo you are hiding behind? Forgive me I cant tell. America is killing innocence and innocents every minute. I only made it personal after you did, and that doesn't make it right.
It's Sitting Bull actually. He was a man of strength, integrity and believe it or not ......compassion .....thanks for asking
@Dick Urbanski - And who are you? God?
Just because someone tries to make Newsvine into less of a cesspool than it already is, don't think that trolls like you will be out of a job. There are always other forums that cater more specifically to your type of personality and intellectual level.
Those people don't value life, sooooo why is this news?
At least some of them are innocent, others, maybe not.
@Sharriannie
"Those people"????? Really? All Pakistani's don't share the same values anymore than you and I do.
127 people are dead. You have no idea what "those people" valued.
No matter what country, so sad. My heart goes out to the families. To see those men crying breaks my heart.
God bless all the departed souls... tragic ! Allen, i am not sure about God but i do know u do hate Pakistan with a passion...
i like turtles
i don't like turtles, how can I collapse your comment? Just having fun.
turtles and tortoises are usually up to no good. otherwise, why would they go overboard on protection and have thick shells for armor and hiding?
well, this is a lot better than some of the heartless comments on here
I like turtle soup
Wow. That was random
Being an American, I always flinch anytime I hear anything about planes crashing. Planes crashing in bad weather, planes crashing in the ocean, planes being deliberately crashed in to buildings with innocent people in them, planes crashing carrying people who may or may not support the same people who hijacked and flew those planes in to the buildings...just all around planes crashing, not a big fan of.
A tragedy....
I know how we're supposed to be comforted knowing that "you're more likely to be involved in a vehicular accident than a plane crash", but the thing that always terrifies me about aircraft accidents is that your chances of survival and pretty damn low (if any). I know several people that got up and walked away from vehicle crashes, but to hear that "there was no chance of anyone surviving" in this crash is the kind of thing that is scary.
My heartbeat triples on takeoff and the 5 minutes or so afterwards and the landing approach every time I fly. A couple of flights ago, the pilot was about to land and realized he was going to overshoot the runway and pulled up suddenly - I think I had a mini heart attack at that moment
Yep, I know exactly what you mean.
i am watching live streams on CNN, very graphic, dead bodies entangled in seats and thrown off across buildings. seems like the plane was about to land and hit local residential area. tragic indeed !
And you're telling PValdes to "get a life"??? bbbbbaaaaaahahahahahahaaaaaaaa
Allen, I know exactly who you are.
Good 127 less that will hate the U.S.!!!
Jon, does the C in your name stand for "full of crap?" If not I think you should think about legally changing it to that.
There is nothing funny or good about the deaths of innocent people. It is usually the governments of the world and their cohorts who hate other countries. Most civilians the world over just want to live and let live. I feel sorry for the victims of this tragedy and for their families.
I don't know... the last time 3,000 people in the USA died- everyone from Iran, Iraq, and Turkey were in the streets celebrating.....
Never forget!!!
"I don't know... the last time 3,000 people in the USA died- everyone from Iran, Iraq, and Turkey were in the streets celebrating....."
Not everyone, just people like yourself. If you and one of those people were switched at birth it would be you dancing in the streets.
My prayers are with the families of those lost in this tragic accident.
This is no joke people, there is human life on that plane, no matter what race they are. Innocent people!!!!! I pray that they did not perish in this tragedy.
We are killing innocents with drones also.
What part of "bodies everywhere" didn't you understand?
Maybe she doesn't understand perish.
Sounds like a cousin of a knish
Tragic incident, condolences to the families of those lost. But I'm betting withen 24 hours the Taliban or Al-quaida is claiming the C.I.A. did it.
They're busy right now.
The article said they were flying very low due to the storm and hit high tension wires on approach to the airport. That would do it.
My thoughts exactly. They will determine that the USA is at fault, and BO will be out there screaming apologies any minute now.
Awful.
As tragic as this is-- there's a bit of irony in this no? plane crashes. Right outside of Islamabad-where we put a bullet in between Osama Bin Ladens eyes? I wouldn't wish this on any one but god it smells like karma over here
yeah, just like those tornado's ripping through the heartland?
Does that D in your name stand for DOUCHE? just curious.
I thought Racism in America dies after the Africans tried to fight back. Apparently, they seem to have lost... As a Muslim American, I can't understand why this racism keeps going... can it really be lack of intelligence?
Amen Jessica! :)
@ MuqMaster... Yup, they are ignorant and don't want to have peace in their life.
They may be Pakistani's, but they are also fellow human beings.....R.I.P !
That is tragic. No matter what country the plane was from, or the nationally of those poor people, it matters not. I myself would be scared to death if I were on it.
If this happened in the US the Pakistanis would be burning our flags and praising Allah
Give the Taliban and Al-quaida leaders 24 hours and someone will want to blame the United States.
Right D so that gives us the right to act just like the fanaticals over there do. /s
someone has to be the bigger man, how about we start here.
D. - SOME no doubt would.
Just like right now, SOME idiot americans are laughing and making stupid remarks about this.
What EXACTLY is your point...because im pretty sure you dont have one other than pointing out how hateful you are.
im sure your "allah" must be proud.
Way to wear your hate on your sleeve, Jessica. Do U have a reading comprehension problem? He DID say OUR flag........
Stand by 4 more hate from the World of Jessica..............
No kidding--- Don't be so @!$%#ty Jessica...
I thought Racism in America dies after the Africans tried to fight back. Apparently, they seem to have lost... As a Muslim American, I can't understand why this racism keeps going... can it really be lack of intelligence?
Muq Master,
Unfortunately it is partially a lack of intelligence and also a lack of emotion. Fortunately most of the people are intelligent enough to be sympathetic or empathetic in some cases. Just as we have our problematic people in Islam, the other religions have them too. They are racist but point the finger elsewhere. Inshallah one day Allah Will make everyone understand we are all human....no better than the next. May prayers for those passengers as well as their families.
i like turtles
I like dolphins
I'm tired of all this hate against toads. I will not stand for it anymore.
i like the movie ssssssssssssssssssssssssss
I thought Racism in America dies after the Africans tried to fight back. Apparently, they seem to have lost... As a Muslim American, I can't understand why this racism keeps going... can it really be lack of intelligence?
Maybe Allen Lost someone close , being out there in military service and knowing how much Pakistani had traded our servicemen all this years there ....that's why he has hate - pain almost and holds it against them politically ......walk in some one shoes before judging...... A lot of military families are suffering pain associated with loss now being out there. I'm not giving any excuse to Allen but I hope no one experiences that kind of pain...I know close family going through that......Condolences to the family's that lost love once.
boo hoo. dead pakistanis. tragic. lol.
Racist alert. Did a Paki steal your Mom's beloved girlfriend?
Imagine if an American airliner crashed?
These same people you are praying for would be dancing in the streets screaming "Allah Allah Allah is great"
FRANCIS-1228935
Imagine if an American airliner crashed?
These same people you are praying for would be dancing in the streets screaming "Allah Allah Allah is great"
They would do the same as you are doing now. So does that make you any better than them? Do you feel any better than them?
@Tom:
Right, that would just leave us with the likes of Tim McVeigh. Just because you get out of the truck before you detonate it, that doesn't make you any better than the fundamentalist who straps on an explosive vest.
No single constituency has a monopoly on terrorism. Try to look past your bigotry next time.
@TiredOfLies:
Not all Muslims are terrorists, but a VAST majority of terrorists are Muslim. Try to look past your ignorance and political correctness next time.
Please note. Do not say let God be with them , let Allah be with them-Almost all of Pakistani people are Muslims and they worship one true GOD . Allah . And he is everywhere. They worship at home, on the road, Masjids ( Mosques ) and every other place that is clean for them to worship.
Clean really? Have you ever smelt a Pakistani joint?
james,
God, Allah, same thing.
Tom,
Old Testament God then, less pithy but more correct I suppose.
There is if one believes they are nothing more than a man made creation used to instill subservience and fear in large masses of society.
Tom, you really hit a home run with that comment, I had not heard that before. Truth is a wonderful thing. Have a nice day. And may the families of the victims of the crash be blessed by God.
Better to believe in Star Wars. May "the force be with you"!
Tom,
God DIDN'T DIE for us, he is still alive, always will be. All the prophets died.
Hopefully no Americans onboard.