[1] On 28 July 2010, the Airbus A321-231 jet airliner serving the flight crashed into the Margalla Hills, north of Islamabad, while approaching Benazir Bhutto International Airport.

[5][6][7][8] Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority concluded that the crash was caused by the captain's incorrect flight-control input.

[2][9]: 22  Flight controllers at Benazir Bhutto International Airport lost contact with the aircraft at 09:41 local time (04:41 UTC).

[9]: 29 [10] The aircraft approached Islamabad from the southeast, following a procedure that required it to fly toward the airport until making visual contact.

It was then to fly around the airport to the east and north, keeping within a distance of 5 nmi (9.3 km; 5.8 mi), until lining up with runway 12, which faces toward the southeast.

[10] Someone reported that as the aircraft started to turn, the right side of its front banged into the highest mountain, emitting an instant billow of blue fire and black smoke.

[15] The Los Angeles Times reported that "television footage of the crash site showed smoke and burning debris strewn in a swath cutting through the forest.

[15] Rescuers who were present at the scene reported that the bodies were mutilated and burnt and that the aircraft was totally destroyed by the impact, with its pieces and parts scattered over a large distance.

BBC Urdu reported that majority of those on the crash site were members from Pakistan's antiterrorism police, while only a few people were from search and rescue.

[18] Their search-and-rescue operation was also hampered by the lack of coordination between rescuers and other government institutions, such as the military, the police, and the Capital Development Authority.

[31] Both the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani sent condolences to the families of those who died in the accident.

[33] U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement confirming that two Americans had been on the flight and expressing condolences, and stated, "our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those touched by this horrible accident".

[22] A six-member Airbus team, headed by Nicolas Bardou, the company's director of flight safety, arrived in Islamabad on 29 July 2010.

[31] The aircraft's flight recorders were located on 31 July,[35] when Junaid Ameen, the director-general of the Pakistan CAA, told AFP, "the investigating committee found the black box from the Margalla Hills this morning ... the black box was found from the bulk of the wreckage of the crashed plane."

He stated that the box would be examined by "foreign experts" in Germany or France, as Pakistan does not possess the equipment to decode the flight recorders.

[9]: 17–19 The recording of the FDR and CVR revealed that the pilot in command of the aircraft at the time, Captain Chaudhry, had significantly deviated from the established procedures for an approach to Islamabad.

At one point, he could be heard laughing off the order from the air traffic control (ATC) to enter a holding pattern and wait for the weather to improve, saying, "Let him say what he wants to say."

[9]: 22–26 According to the recording, the captain initially did not feel anxious about his decision to deviate from the standard procedures for an approach to Islamabad.

In the last few seconds, Captain Chaudhry panicked and eventually caused the aircraft to fly directly towards the hills, rather than avoiding them.

[9]: 22–26 While numerous deviations from the standard operating procedures happened, the co-pilot of Flight 202, First Officer Ahmed, was largely unresponsive and passive about them, even when the aircraft was put in a dangerously close position to terrain.

During Flight 202's initial climb, Captain Chaudhry decided to use this particular time to test First Officer Ahmed's knowledge.

He had fully lost his self-esteem, enabling Captain Chaudhry to freely do any violations from the standard procedures without any suggestions or corrective actions from the far less experienced Ahmed.

He decided not to follow the ATC's suggestion to wait inside the holding pattern and dismissed his co-pilot's concern regarding establishing visual contact with the runway, despite this being crucial for the approach procedure.

[9]: 22–26 By selecting the NAV mode, the computer of the Airbus A321 had to search for new waypoints, as no NAV-mode approach data were available for runway 12.

[9]: 22–26 The report issued by Pakistan's CAA in November 2011 cited a lack of professionalism in the cockpit crew, along with poor weather, as primary factors in the crash.

In particular, the report noted that the CVR and FDR confirmed that the captain ignored or did not properly respond to a multitude of air traffic control directives and automated terrain warning systems.

[9][40]: 32–33 The report concluded that the crash was a controlled flight into terrain accident, in which aircrew failed to display sufficient judgment and professional skills in a self-created unsafe environment.

In their determination to land in inclement weather, they committed serious violations of procedures and breaches of flying discipline, which put the aircraft in an unsafe condition over dangerous terrain at low altitude.

[9]: 32–33 Representatives of family members of passengers on the flight questioned the validity of the report and the qualifications of those who carried out the investigation.

[41][42] In 2012, following extensive scrutiny from the public and officials regarding the report's lack of quality, Peshawar High Court ordered the Pakistani government to reinvestigate the crash with assistance from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).