London – Karachi

On August 5, 1956 at 12:00 AM, London – Karachi experienced a crash involving Handley Page H.P.81 Hermes, operated by Britavia, with the event recorded near Faisal AFB (Mehran NAS) (Karachi) Sindh (<U+0633><U+0646><U+068C> <U+0633><U+0646><U+062F><U+06BE>).

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

72 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 72 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 7, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 65, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The approach to Karachi International Airport was attempted in poor weather conditions and a limited visibility due to heavy rain falls. On final, the left windshield wiper failed and the crew did not realized he was approaching Faisal AFB runway 08 instead of Karachi-Intl Airpor runway 07, when the airplane struck the ground and crashed short of runway threshold at Faisal Airbase (Drigh Road). All 72 occupants were evacuated safely while the airplane was damaged beyond repair.

Aircraft reference details include registration G-ALDK, MSN 81/12, year of manufacture 1950.