Investigation Summary
The accident occurred during the airline's inaugural evening service on the Karachi to Islamabad route. As the aircraft approached Islamabad, it encountered a squall line. Despite the First Officer's suggestions to divert, the Captain elected to continue the approach. The aircraft entered a microburst, causing a significant loss of airspeed and altitude. The crew's response was hindered by a lack of familiarity with the aircraft's specific flight management system (FMS) and autothrottle behavior in wind shear. The Boeing 737-236A involved was a more advanced 'Advanced' variant than the standard 737-200s the pilots were accustomed to. During the critical moments, the autothrottle moved to the 'RETARD' mode due to the wind shear, and the crew failed to manually override it or apply full go-around power. The aircraft stalled and impacted a residential area in Hussain Abad, 4.24 nautical miles from the runway.
Final Conclusions
The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) concluded the primary cause was the crew's failure to follow standard operating procedures for wind shear recovery. Contributing factors included the crew's lack of formal training on the specific semi-automated variant of the 737-200 they were operating, poor cockpit resource management (CRM), and the decision to continue the approach into a known severe thunderstorm. The investigation also highlighted systemic failures in the CAA's oversight, which allowed the airline to operate without ensuring its crews were properly qualified for the specific aircraft equipment.
Video Analysis
The Inaugural Flight That Ended Up Crashing | The Crash Of Bhoja Air 213 — A detailed breakdown of the events leading to the crash of Bhoja Air 213, focusing on the weather conditions, pilot decisions, and the technical differences of the aircraft variant.
Watch on YouTube ↗If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Systems & Failure Modes
Autothrottle (A/T)
The system entered 'RETARD' mode during the wind shear encounter, reducing engine thrust when maximum power was required for recovery.
Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS)
The system provided multiple 'PULL UP' and 'SINK RATE' warnings, which the crew failed to respond to effectively.
Flight Management System (FMS)
The pilots were not trained on the specific FMS installed in this variant, leading to confusion during the approach.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was a Boeing 737-236A, an 'Advanced' variant previously operated by British Airways and Comair.
- 02The flight was the inaugural evening service for Bhoja Air on the Karachi-Islamabad route.
- 03Both pilots were former Air Force officers with significant experience, but lacked specific training on the AP-BKC's automated systems.
- 04The aircraft had only flown 69 hours with Bhoja Air since the airline resumed operations.
- 05The crash remains the second-deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan's history, surpassed only by the 2010 crash of Airblue Flight 202.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Training Standardization
The Pakistan CAA mandated that pilots must receive differences training when transitioning between different variants of the same aircraft type, even if they share a common type rating.
Regulatory Oversight Reform
The investigation led to calls for stricter auditing of private airlines' training programs and operational manuals by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Known Controversies & Unanswered Questions
Regulatory Negligence Allegations
Reference ↗Public and legal scrutiny focused on how the CAA allowed Bhoja Air to resume operations despite the airline's history of financial instability and the lack of documented training for the specific aircraft variant.