The Cooking Stove That Crashed A Passenger Jet | Pakistan International Airlines 740

This is the story of pakistan international airlines flight 740. On the 26th of november 1979 a pakistan international airlines 707 was on the way from Kano nigeria to karachi in pakistan. On the way the plane would make a quick stop in Jeddan before heading onto karachi. It was hajj season so the airline was in full swing shuffling people in and out of mecca to visit mecca. It was dark but the plane taxied to the runway and the 145 people on board were expecting a quick and simple flight into karachi, the plane took off and then climbed into the cool desert air. Before long they were at 37,000 feet and the plane settled in for the flight to karachi. That is when a flight attendant at the back of the plane noticed something, a smell a burning smell. She then observed flames at the back of the plane near the rear passenger doors. The captain immediately dispatched the flight engineer to the back of the plane to gauge how bad the flames were but the flames were bad enough that he couldnt get to the back of the plane. The aisles of the plane were so packed that the flight engineer could not make it to the back of the plane. The flight engineer said that there was just too much fire to make it all the way back. The captain knew that if they had any hope of making it to the ground in one piece he would need to put this plane down and fast, he got the plane cleared to return to jeddah and took the stricken 707 down to 30000 feet. He then tramismitted "Jeddah Pakistan 740 at 290 position 123 DME. We would like to return back to Jeddah due to smoke in the aircraft - fire - electrical supposedly." the reply from the controller just said “do whatever you like”. Unfortunately for the pilots do whatever you like isnt helpful when they have a passenger jet full of people thats on fire.the captain needed to know specifics, how low he could go safely he transmitted “Jeddah, Pakistan 740, can you tell us what height we can descend to safely?” The controller cleared them all the way down to 4000 feet. At this point the pilots of flight 740 would be looking to put the plane down on any bit of paved runway. But first he would need to descend. The first officer was now tasked with figuring out what the minimum safe altitude was in the area that they were in and to their dismay it was 11000 feet. They would have to clear this area and then descend down to 4000 feet. If they were to follow the controllers instructions they would fly into a mountain for sure. The first officer now turns to the captain and says “"We are getting flames inside the back, you want to get down faster." The crew then transmitted "We're making an emergency descent, request radar assistance for landing." the controller let them know that jeddah was 83 miles away. It was a short distance and an eternity away at the same time. The cabin filled with smoke. The next transmission from the plane was them decaliring a mayday. Flight 740 was not heard from since. Even though they were in a radio black out the plane kept flying. The controllers radar scope showed the plane at 65 miles at an altitude of 19000 feet. In the cockpit the raging fire forced the pilots to don their oxygen masks but the fire was too much for them. The smoke likely incapacitated the pilots and the plane then started to lose altitude. It was slow at first but then then 707 entered a final dive from about 8000 feet in altitude. The plane impacted a bit of relatively flat terrain and was promptly engulfed by a ball of fire. The crash was witnessed by the crew of a nearby bac 1-11 and they called it in, The saudi airforce surged search and assets into the region but it was too little too late. The crash was not survivable and none of the 156 people onboard survived. The plane was strewn cross an area that was three square kilometers wide. The plane crashed near the saudi city of taif, the airport at taif could have accommodated the plane but it was not given any serious consideration by the pilots or the controller, even if they had decided to go to the city of taif they still would have had to lose a lot of altitude in a short