Airblue A321 crashes near Islamabad

An A321 operated by Pakistan's privately owned Airblue crashed on approach to Islamabad from Karachi at approximately 9:45 a.m. local time Wednesday.

All 146 passengers and six crewmembers were killed when the aircraft went down in the Margalla Hills around 15 km. from Islamabad International Airport, according to multiple press reports. A statement on the airline's website described the weather as "poor...with thick fog." Flight ED202 departed Karachi around 7:45 a.m. local time for the approximately two-hr. trip.

According to Airbus, the V2500-powered A321, MSN1218, was delivered new in 2000 and leased to Airblue in 2006. It had accumulated approximately 34,000 flight hr. and 13,500 cycles. Airblue commenced service in 2004 and serves four cities in Pakistan and five international destinations. As of March 31, its fleet comprised six A320 family aircraft with 14 more on order, according to the Ascend Online Fleets database.

This is the second hull loss accident in two days. On Tuesday, a Lufthansa Cargo MD-11F crashed while attempting to land in Riyadh (ATW Daily News, July 28). Both pilots survived.

Discuss this news 27

28 Jul23:50

very very sad incident. May

By REBEL PRINCE

very very sad incident. May allah give patience to thier home mates

28 Jul23:56

A sad day in the history of

By Toor

A sad day in the history of pakistan. May Allah bless them top heavens and give patience to their close ones.
Ameen

28 Jul23:59

Jane, If you've been injured

By bradycesar

Jane, If you've been injured due to the negligence of another, you may be compensated for certain losses. We're here to protect your rights and see that you receive a just settlement, contact at http://bit.ly/aK73S0 lets pray for him

29 Jul00:30

It is a very sad incident,

By Unver

It is a very sad incident, May Allah give their relatives patience and protect all who is on board.

29 Jul00:42

It is a sad day for avaiation

By Khawaja Javaid

It is a sad day for avaiation business in general and in particular for Pakistan.May be the souls in peace .May Allah give patience and strength to the relatives.Airblue staff and management have to go through difficult times at this accident.Prayers for all the parted souls.

29 Jul01:14

my prayers with all the

By Ben jamin

my prayers with all the parted soul, may they rest in peace.

29 Jul02:48

my prayers with all the

By kumar

my prayers with all the parted soul, may they rest in peace.

but cause for the accident should be properly investigated .
Why the aircraft was allowed to land in such a bad weather condition.
Problem with these low cost airline for saving fuel they put endanger the life of passengers on board. if the weather was bad they should have diverted the flight and could have saved such precious lives.

29 Jul03:41

care cost nothing & careless

By bamboya

care cost nothing & careless cost too much .... hope alla bless them in high heaven they were incent .

29 Jul03:43

My thoughts to the families

By Ben

My thoughts to the families involved.
As for Allah: May Allah stop doing this!

29 Jul04:28

Very sad indeed

By SAA

Very sad indeed

29 Jul06:41

very sad and hope patience to

By Anonymous

very sad and hope patience to families

29 Jul07:00

re: "Jane, if you've been

By pgwrox

re: "Jane, if you've been injured" by bradycesar- I'm extremely upset that the ATW site is being used to post adds by law firms; this is not the place to carry out such activities and they should be prohibited.

This site is there to allow individuals to post their views/opinions on the airline industry as a whole. IT IS NOT A FREE ADVERTISING SPACE.

29 Jul07:50

Flying in bad weather??????

By Anonymous

Flying in bad weather?????? There's no excuse, negligence????? On the 21st Century, with latest technology and proper traning these accidents could be avoided. :(

29 Jul09:06

"Allah", otherwise known as

By IguanaDC3

"Allah", otherwise known as GOD to the rest of us, alas.

29 Jul09:59

This is a very sad day in

By Anonymous

This is a very sad day in Pakistan, and I am sorry for those who have lost loved ones in this aviation accident. I hope the country can come together at this difficult time.

29 Jul10:09

Jane, You are a vulture. Not

By Ahmed

Jane,
You are a vulture. Not the time...Not the forum..

29 Jul12:53

this is a very sad day for

By raja

this is a very sad day for family of those died in aviation accident.god will send them in heaven.but same time if pakistan govt would have made another airport with two runway this should not would happen ...please stop the fighting with each other and finsh building the new airpot as soon as posiable...

29 Jul13:35

Bradycesar you are a

By Frank

Bradycesar you are a slimeball ambulance chaser with no morals whatsoever. If you follow the link enclosed it takes you to "Attorneys.com" who are not even attorneys. This webpage and comments are not for your cheap tricks. Leave the memories of these departed souls alone, not peddle your worthless legal $#!+. ATW should monitor more closely activities of scum like you.

30 Jul18:56

This site and forum is only

By khawaja javaid

This site and forum is only for aviation related professionals or who would like to make the comments about the industry.Please don't pollute it

31 Jul13:32

In the first place, a very

By Anonymous

In the first place, a very sad incident of having lost all 146 lives. May God rest their souls in heaven. Secondly, Islamabad and Karachi both are modern airports with latest instrument support for airplanes to land/take-off and with availability of weather reports, why was the flight allowed to take off. Besides manufacturer's minima for bad weather, I am sure company has their own minima requirements and certainly the trained pilots are employed by the company who is looking forward for an expansion having placed orders 14 airplanes of A320 family. I must express that without any interference, local Civil Aviation Authorities must conduct un-bias investigations into the crash and AirBus must assist - and last but not the least - a true and honest Report be made public not only in Pakistan but throughout the air companies who use A320 family airplanes. I look forward to an early enquiry committee to be set-up by the authorities. My hearfelt condolences to the bereaved family members of the passenger and crew members who are killed in this crash.

31 Jul21:12

Allah reham kary.. Boht

By Anonymous

Allah reham kary.. Boht afsosss.. God bless pakistan and muslims..

02 Aug03:21

BOUT ZAIDA AFSOS Allah Sub

By MALIK ZAHID QAYYUM

BOUT ZAIDA AFSOS Allah Sub Per Rahaem karay...

03 Aug11:34

we are all pakistani very sad

By asad ali semab

we are all pakistani very sad for all those people whose dead in airblue crash.ALLAH bless them.

04 Aug07:14

Hum sab ki dua hay k ALLAHA

By ABID FAROOQ

Hum sab ki dua hay k ALLAHA PAK tamam Shaheedo Ki Gunhaon ko muaff farmaye aur in ko Jannat main ala muqam ata farmay

AMEEN

08 Aug18:26

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES EMPLOYEES

By Richardson

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES EMPLOYEES ARE GETING READY TO GO ON A STRIKE FOR FAILED NEGOTIATIONS ON THE SPENDING OF ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES REVENUES WITH PRIME MINSTER MELES ZENAWI BACKING UP HIS WIFE AZEB MESFIN . Azeb Mesfin, wife of dictator Meles Zenawi, member of the rubber stamp Ethiopian parliament and boss of the biggest corruption scheme in the world called the Endowment Fund the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) has been pushing state banks to the brink of bankruptcy.

According to well-positioned banking sources, since Azeb took over EFFORT from Sebhat Nega last year she is personally pressurizing banks to illegally grant huge amounts of loans in local and hard currency. EFFORT, which allegedly owes close to 10 billion birr in unpaid loans mainly from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, the Development Bank of Ethiopia and the Business and Construction Bank, is well-known for defaulting on the multi- billion birr loans it is raking out of the coffers of state-owned banks.

Azeb, widely known as the First Lady of Corruption and Queen of Mega, has been hand twisting banks, managed by inexperienced TPLF’s hirelings, to loan out a string of additional funds to EFFORT, which has practically monopolized the economy. The latest instalment of the loan bonanza to the privileged and discriminatory ethnic business conglomerate arrived in the amount of $120 million (1.6 billion birr) which was secured a few months ago from the major state banks including Development Bank of Ethiopia. The bank has already been in the red as it carries a huge burden of unpaid non-performing loans.

The latest loan was approved for EFFORT’s shady business proposal to launch a huge irrigation project in Tigray. Under Hiwot Agriculture Mechanization, one of TPLF’s numerous companies, EFFORT has already short-listed foreign agribusiness giants including, a Saudi Arabian Irrigation firm, Alkhorayet Industry and Valley, the British Irrigation company and Israeli Drip irrigation, Omni. The main idea of the project is to produce cash crop for export while two-thirds of households in Tigray depend on food aid.

“We are witnessing the most unacceptable form of discrimination that is illegal anywhere. Almost all state banks have been serving TPLF first as the rest of the nation is their last priority,” said a businessman, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The Prime Minister’s wife has been using her influence and privilege to play with money at the expense of poor taxpayers. This is corruption of the worst kind. Nobody knows why EFFORT is not paying tax and servicing the loans that should have been invested on essential projects that benefits everyone,” he added.

It has been reported that almost all of TPLF’s companies, which barely pay income tax, are undertaking expansion projects financed by state-owned banks that never ask EFFORT and Azeb to pay back the funds. Last year EFFORT took out a whopping $1.41 million, nearly 2 billion birr, for the expansion of Messebo Cement Factory from the ailing Development Bank of Ethiopia, which sustains its operations on loans from internal and external loans.

11 Aug11:05

Islamabad Crash is one of the

By Shahzad Saeed

Islamabad Crash is one of the deadliest crash ever happened. Recently Air India flight is crashed where I am living which is described as top 9th deadliest crash in last decade. Hope this kind of crash never happen again
Love and care from India.

18 Sep13:06

My Allah bless the souls

By manzoor hussain

My Allah
bless the souls of the passengers
I think that there may be terrorism
we should not ignore it

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