PIA B772 over Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary on Feb 27th 2020, loss of communication

Last Update: March 3, 2020 / 12:55:12 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of PIA Pakistan International Airlines AP-BMG, Boeing 777-200 — PIA Pakistan International Airlines AP-BMG, Boeing 777-200 (Photo credit: Alec BHX/KKC / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Feb 27, 2020

Classification
Incident

Airline
PIA Pakistan International Airlines

Flight number
PK-786

Departure
London Heathrow, United Kingdom

Destination
Islamabad, Pakistan

Aircraft Registration
AP-BMG

Aircraft Type
Boeing 777-200

ICAO Type Designator
B772

A PIA Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 777-200, registration AP-BMG performing flight PK-786 from London Heathrow,EN (UK) to Islamabad (Pakistan), was enroute at FL370 over southern Germany when the communication between ATC and the aircraft was lost. The aircraft proceeded into Czech Airspace, Czech ATC queried the crew "Do you read?" and instructed them to press ident on their transponder, however, no reaction. The aircraft continued at FL370 along the planned flight route, nonetheless, fighter aircraft were dispatched to intercept the aircraft, the Boeing however crossed into Slovak Airspace without restoring communication and subsequently also flew through Hungarian Airspace without establishing communication with ATC. The crew subsequently reported with Bucharest Area Control at about 20:18Z while crossing from Hungarian into Romanian Airspace about 50 minutes after radio contact had been lost. The aircraft climbed from FL370 to FL390 over Azerbaijan. The aircraft arrived in Islamabad on schedule.

On Feb 28th 2020 the Hungarian Defense Forces reported in the evening of Feb 27th 2020 their Gripen Fighter Aircraft were dispatched and intercepted the aircraft, however, were only able to escort the aircraft to the border of Hungary when the Boeing 777 crossed into the next airspace. The Hungarian Air Force had advance warning as Czech Air Force had intercepted the aircraft and escorted it to the Czech border as well.

On Feb 29th 2020 the airline reported they have not received any reports by anyone so far although such incidents and/or violations are usually reported by the countries involved immediately. The crew of PK-786 also did not report any unusual events.

On Mar 3rd 2020 Pakistan's Safety Investigation Board (SIB) reported they have opened an investigation into the loss of communication through several European countries as result of a technical malfunction. The captain and first officer of the flight are being interviewed. The SIB also established contact with Authorities of the countries involved.

On Mar 3rd 2020 the airline confirmed they have opened an internal investigation into flight PK-786.

Additional information arrived indicating that Praha Area Control (Czech ATC) had attemtped to raise the aircraft on guard frequency, too, again without a response, relaying the next frequencies, squawk to the aircraft and telling the aircraft to check their left side, there was Czech Air Force at their left side and they were now entering into Slovak Airspace.