Cairo - Bahrain - Muscat

On August 23, 2000 at 07:30 PM, Cairo - Bahrain - Muscat experienced a crash involving Airbus A320, operated by Gulf Air, with the event recorded near Bahrain All Bahrain.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

143 people were known to be on board, 143 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 8, crew fatalities: 8, passengers on board: 135, passenger fatalities: 135, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. On 23 August 2000, at about 1930 local time, Gulf Air flight GF072, an Airbus A320-212, a Sultanate of Oman registered aircraft A4O-EK, crashed at sea at about 3 miles north-east of Bahrain International Airport. GF072 departed from Cairo International Airport, Egypt, with two pilots, six cabin crew and 135 passengers on board for Bahrain International Airport, Muharraq, Kingdom of Bahrain. GF072 was operating a regularly scheduled international passenger service flight under the Convention on International Civil Aviation and the provisions of the Sultanate of Oman Civil Aviation Regulations Part 121 and was on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan. GF072 was cleared for a VOR/DME approach for Runway 12 at Bahrain. At about one nautical mile from the touch down and at an altitude of about 600 feet, the flight crew requested for a left hand orbit, which was approved by the air traffic control (ATC). Having flown the orbit beyond the extended centreline on a south-westerly heading, the captain decided to go-around. Observing the manoeuvre, the ATC offered the radar vectors, which the flight crew accepted. GF072 initiated a go-around, applied take-off/go-around thrust, and crossed the runway on a north-easterly heading with a shallow climb to about 1000 feet. As the aircraft rapidly accelerated, the master warning sounded for flap over-speed. A perceptual study, carried out as part of the investigation, indicated that during the go-around the flight crew probably experienced a form of spatial disorientation, which could have caused the captain to falsely perceive that the aircraft was ‘pitching up’. He responded by making a ‘nose-down’ input, and, as a result, the aircraft commenced to descend. The ground proximity warning system (GPWS) voice alarm sounded: “whoop, whoop pull-up …”. The GPWS warning was repeated every second for nine seconds, until the aircraft impacted the shallow sea. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces, and all 143 persons on board were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration A4O-EK, MSN 481, year of manufacture 1994.