Prior to the fall off Dacca in Dec 1971, I flew as a passenger from Lahore to Karachi on a scheduled Fokker F-27 flight stopping enroute at Multan. I had taken this feeder flight for ease in getting a seat and also a familiarity with the crew. I was a F-27 co-pilot in those days. After a noon departure from Multan, we flew the sector MUX-KHI at an altitude of 12000 or 14000 feet msl. It was winter, so it could be early ’71. We were in clouds throughout; there was icing and continuous noise of the propellers shedding ice on the fuselage (body) of the aircraft. There were increases in power (to maintain speed probably) but I did not discern any change in altitude. The turbulence was continuous, moderate to severe which at times caused me discomfort, I could say alarm momentarily. But being a crew member also, off duty though, I had to keep my composure in the cabin where I was seated. The co-pilot, Bakhtiyar was a colleague from the initial flying aptitude testing days at Walton Airport Lahore, prior to joining PIA.

In January 1972, I learnt that Capt. Javaidullah had died in an air accident of a Fokker F-27 in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. I also lost a colleague in that accident, First Officer Javaid Inayat who was also a graduate from the PIA Flying Academy. Later I learnt from his brother-in-law, Chief Flight Engineer Khwaja Naseem, B747, that he was his wife’s brother when I flew with him on the 747. The weather was bad that day for the return flight from Gilgit, and they had as a result not taken the direct route but were flying along the Indus River in the valley. There is a characteristic bend in the river’s course known as the Sazeen Bend, west of Chilas, and the aircraft crashed near here hitting the side of the valley while they were trying to turn back. The speed apparently was high and the flaps which would have slowed down the aircraft for better maneuvering were not taken; the arc (radius) of the turn was greater as a result. Maybe Capt. Javaidullah pressed his luck too far. Maybe he had become overconfident, we will never know 

Fokker F-27-600; AP-AUS; 8/12/1972: the aircraft departed Gilgit at 0640 for Rawalpindi. It crashed into a snow covered mountain 9,000 feet high above the village Maidan about 8 miles south of Jalkot in the Indus Valley. There were 31 on board, all died. Cockpit crew was: Captain Javaidullah & First Officer Javed Inayat

Registration	Fate	Type	Manufacture	Delivery
AP-AUS	Crashed Sazeen Bend Indus Valley, 8/12/1972, Capt Javaidullah	F-27-600	1966	16/12/1966

 

Registration	Fate	Type	Manufacture	Delivery
AP-ALM	Crashed write off Rawat 6/8/1970, Capt Anwarullah	F-27 200	1960	1/3/1961
AP-ALN	Write off 5/7/1994	F-27 200	1960	1/19/1961
AP-ALO	Write off 25/6/1964	F-27 200	1961	2/6/1961
AP-ALW	WFU 2003	F-27-400	1961	19/10/1961
AP-ALX	crashed  12/12/1971 Capt Mubashar Ahmed	F-27-200	1961	16/11/1961
AP-ATO	Write off 16/3/1977; Both engines inadvertently shut down during test flight. Captain Feroze Zafar Khan	F-27-200	1964	13/8/1964
AP-ATT	Write off 8/10/1965	F-27-200	1965	23/7/1965
AP-ATU	WFU 2003	F-27-200	1965	8/7/1965
AP-AUR	Write off 10/6/2004	F-27-200	1966	30/4/1966
AP-AUS	Crashed Sazeen Bend Indus Valley, 8/12/1972, Capt Javaidullah	F-27-600	1966	16/12/1966
AP-AUV	Crashed Shamshernagar, Capt. Abu Salem	F-27-200	1967	14/6/1067
AP-AUW	Write off 23/12/1972	F-27-200	1967	27/6/1967
AP-AUX	Write off 23/10/1986	F-27-600	1967	30/4/1967
AP-AXB	WFU 2000	F-27-200	1965	6/4/1973
AP-AXF	Write off 5/6/1981	F-27-600	1968	6/7/1973
AP-BAL	Write off 10/7/2006 Multan	F-27-200	1964	26/1/1979
AP-BAO	WFU 7/2006	F-27-200	1963	1/6/1979
AP-BBF	Missing  on return from Gilgit 25/8/1989	F-27-200	1962	28/8/1981
AP-BBG	Transferred 18/1/1982	F-27-200	1964	18/1/1982
AP-BCT	WFU 4/2005	F-27-200	1965	29/6/1986
AP-BCZ	WFU 4/2006	F-27-200	1966	2/9/1987
AP-BDB	WFU 7/2006	F-27-200	1966	22/6/1988
AP-BDF	Transferred Navy 9/1988	F-27-200	1966	20/4/1988
AP-BDG	Transferred Navy 9/1988	F-27-200	1964	6/7/1988
AP-BDP	WFU 10/1999	F27-200	1961	11/1989
AP-BDQ	WFU 7/2006	F-27-200	1984	12/1989
AP-BDR	WFU 7/2006	F-27-200	1959	7/1990
AP-BDS	WFU 04/2005	F-27-200	1959	2/1990
AP-BHF	WFU 7/2006	F-27-500R	1982	6/2005

In my time on Fokker F-27 from 1969-1975–5 crashes:

1964-1975–7 crashes,

1975-2006–7 crashes

WFU = withdrawn from use