Saudia Flight 163

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Aviation Hub | 30-Nov-2019
Introduction

It was August 19, 1980 when a flight caught fire right after takeoff from Riyadh International Airport. It was carrying 301 people including 287 passengers and 14 crew members. Unfortunately, no one survived this  air crash but the aircraft make successful landing.


The flight was scheduled from Qu'aid-e-Azam International Airport which is know as Jinnah International Airport now. This airport is situated in Karachi, Pakistan. The flight had 2 hour layover at Riyadh International Airport for refueling the passengers drop and pick. At 21:08 plane took off for its final destination. Just seven minutes after the takeoff Pilots started getting the fire alarms from the cargo compartment. At this moment captain Mohammed Ali Khowyter decided to return the airport and he informed the air traffic control room regarding this situation.

Thrust lever of the engines were jammed at this moment due to fire that burned the concerned cable. The caption declared it as a emergency landing and successfully landed the plane but it over run the runway as its engines were still running. The aircraft stopped right after 2 minutes and 40 seconds after the touchdown, Captain Mohammad Ali informed ATC about the stop and after this the communication with ATC was lost. 23 minutes later the aircraft door was opened by the ground staff and 3 minutes later the aircraft was into flames.


It is still unknown that why captain Khowyter failed to evacuate the aircraft. The autopsy report of all 314 indicated that all died by inhaling smoke and not by burning.  

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