1959 Pakistan International Airlines accident in Karachi
Vickers 815 Viscount · The 1959 Pakistan International Airlines accident in Karachi occurred on 14 August 1959
From Jinnah International Airport (KHI) to Jinnah International Airport (KHI)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 2 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 1
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Vickers 815 Viscount
- Aircraft type
- Vickers 815
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- AP-AJE
- Operator
- Pakistan International Airlines
- Onboard fatalities
- 2
- Route
- From Jinnah International Airport (KHI)To Jinnah International Airport (KHI)
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Personnel issues › Psychological
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: Jinnah International Airport, the airport the Wikipedia article names as the site. Where on or near it is not known.
From the Wikipedia article
The 1959 Pakistan International Airlines accident in Karachi occurred on 14 August 1959. On that day a Vickers 815 Viscount of Pakistan International Airlines crashed during a training flight at Karachi Airport. Two of the three occupants of the aircraft died in the accident.
Accident sequence
The aircraft took off from Karachi Airport at 19:30 local time on a training flight. At 21:39 the aircraft returned, and at 21:48 it took off for another training flight. At 22:07 the crew received landing clearance. Since the aircraft, with which an ILS approach was to be carried out, was on an unstable approach, a go-around was initiated. On the second approach the aircraft was observed flying over the runway at low height with engines No. 3 and 4 shut down. After passing the end of the runway, the aircraft yawed 90 degrees to starboard, whereupon the right wing struck a protective wall at 22:14 local time. The aircraft then crashed to the ground and burst into flames. Two of the three crew members were killed.
Investigation and cause
Cause
The accident investigation found that the accident had occurred because a pilot under check flew a risky manoeuvre without observing the minimum requirements for this manoeuvre. An attempt was made to fly over the runway at a very low height with two engines shut down and at a speed below the prescribed minimum speed. This led to an abrupt yaw and descent from which the aircraft could no longer be brought under control owing to a lack of safety margins. The check captain had been familiar with the minimum requirements for the manoeuvre flown, but had evidently overestimated his capabilities.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Flugunfall der Pakistan International Airlines in Karatschi 1959” (revision 251249084, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Flugunfall der Pakistan International Airlines in Karatschi 1959
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 251249084 · 2024-12-14 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q107009997
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- de Wikipedia article "Flugunfall der Pakistan International Airlines in Karatschi 1959" (page 11752737, revision 251249084), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- airport the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata code, OurAirports)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an airline in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.