| Date: | Thursday 20 May 1965 |
| Time: | 01:48 |
| Type: |  Boeing 720-040B |
| Owner/operator: | Pakistan International Airlines - PIA |
| Registration: | AP-AMH |
| MSN: | 18379/321 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1962 |
| Engine model: | P&W JT3D-3B |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 121 / Occupants: 127 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | ca 20 km S of Cairo International Airport (CAI) -
 Egypt
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Dhahran International Airport (DHA/OEDR) |
| Cairo International Airport (CAI/HECA) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
PIA flight 705, a Boeing 720, crashed while on approach to Cairo Airport, Egypt, killing 121 occupants; 6 survived the accident.
Flight PK705 was the inaugural service from Karachi, Pakistan to London, U.K. Intermediate stops were planned at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Cairo, Egypt and Geneva, Switzerland.
The flight departed Dhahran at 21:22 UTC for Cairo. The flight was uneventful and at 23:40 UTC, 01:40 local time, it was cleared for a left-hand circuit for runway 34. At 23:45 the crew reported turning on finals. The Boeing 720 kept descending and struck the ground short of the runway in a slight left-bank attitude with its undercarriage up and flaps at 20 degrees.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The aircraft did not maintain the adequate height for the circuit and continued to descend until it contacted the ground. The reason for that abnormal continuation of descent is unknown."
Sources:
ICAO Circular 88-AN/74 Vol I (113-117)
Location
Images:
photo (c) Jerry Hughes; London-Heathrow Airport (LHR/EGLL); 1963
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Mar-2025 12:19 | ASN | Updated [Narrative, ] |
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