Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Manama Bosnia And Herzegowina
Wednesday, August 23, 2000 3:00 GMT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On August 23, 2000, about 1930 Bahrain local time (1630 UTC), Gulf Air flight 72, an Airbus A320-212, Sultanate of Oman registration A40-EK, crashed in the Arabian Gulf near Muharraq, Bahrain. Flight 72 departed from Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt, with 2 pilots, 6 flight attendants, and 135 passengers on board. The airplane had been cleared to land on runway 12 at Bahrain International Airport, Muharraq, Bahrain, but crashed about 3 miles northeast of the airport during a go-around. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces, and all persons on board were fatally injured. Flight 072 was operating as a regularly scheduled international passenger service flight under the provisions of Sultanate of Oman Civil Aviation Regulations Part 121 and was on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan. Night, visual meteorological conditions existed at the time of the accident. Preliminary examination of the flight recorders indicate the flight exceeded flap overspeed limits while climbing during the go-around. This was followed by a pitch down and several alerts from the Ground Proximity Warning System before the airplane impacted the water.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/23/2000
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 300
Event Time Zone --
Event City MANAMA
Event State --
Event Country BOSNIA AND HERZEGOWINA
Zipcode of the event site
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Unknown
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Unknown
Time of the weather observation 0
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID
Elevation of weather observation facility 0
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation
Lighting Conditions Not Reported
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Unknown
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 0
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 143
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 143
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 0
NTSB Notification Source NTSB Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Aug 23 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 100
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 31 2002 5:30PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Unknown
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number --
NTSB Number DCA00RA083
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Non-U.S., Commercial
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Unknown
Aircraft Explosion Unknown
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Airbus Industrie
Aircraft Model A320
Aircraft Series Identifier A320
Aircraft Serial Number
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class Unknown
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City
Aircraft Owner State
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? Yes
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Unknown
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Unknown
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Unknown
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board Unknown
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code
Departure City CAIRO
Departure State OF
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 10 2002 3:18PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --