PIA Flight 740

PIA Flight 740

A PIA Boeing 707-340C, similar to the crashed aircraft
Accident summary
Date	26 November 1979
Summary	In-flight fire (source of fire's ignition undetermined)
Site	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Passengers	145
Crew	11
Injuries (non-fatal)	0
Fatalities	156 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Boeing 707-340C
Operator	Pakistan International Airlines
Registration	AP-AWZ

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740 was a Hajj pilgrimage flight that crashed after takeoff from the old Jeddah International Airport on 26 November 1979. All 156 on board the Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 707-340C were killed. An in-flight fire in the cabin area, through its intensity and rapid extension, resulted in panic among the passengers and smoke in the cockpit, eventually incapacitating the flight crew. The cause of the cabin fire was not determined.

The accident remains to date the third-deadliest crash on Saudi Arabian soil and the third-deadliest involving a Boeing 707. However the actual cause is a mystery.

See also

• Aviation safety
• List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
• Other aircraft crashes caused by in-flight fires
  • Air Canada Flight 797
  • Nigeria Airways Flight 2120, operated by Nationair (another Hajj pilgrimage flight)
  • Saudia Flight 163 (another Hajj pilgrimage flight)
  • Swissair Flight 111
  • ValuJet Flight 592

External links

• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network

Coordinates: 21°30′N 39°51′E / 21.500°N 39.850°E