Due to pilot error, the aircraft was badly damaged in the first belly landing, with both engines flaming out during the go-around.

The flight, piloted by Captain Sajjad Gul and First officer Usman Azam,[1][2] took off from Lahore at 13:05[3][4]: 10  and was near the end of its 90-minute journey,[5] when it crashed at around 14:45 (09:45 UTC)[6][7] into the densely-populated neighborhood of Model Colony[8] around 3 kilometres (2 miles) from the airport.

[15][3] One of the pilots subsequently radioed air traffic control (ATC) reporting landing gear issues and the failure of both engines.

"[6][13] According to PIA's CEO, Arshad Malik, a technical fault prompted the aircraft to make a go-around rather than land, even though both runways were available.

[15] According to officials from Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), complications had arisen during the aircraft's first descent.

[13] Residents said it is not uncommon for aircraft on final approach to pass so close to building rooftops that they "feel ... we can touch it", given the proximity of the runways.

[22] According to a witness statement collected by Reuters, the plane hit a mobile phone tower in the vicinity of the airport as it crashed.

[25][18] From 22 March to 7 May 2020, the plane had remained grounded owing to flight cancellations amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

[18] Pakistan International Airlines released details of the flight manifest which shows 91 passengers (51 men, 31 women, and 9 children); there were also 8 crew members.

[5][9][27][28][15] The death toll was confirmed as 97, consisting solely of those on board the plane[11][29] but later one of those injured on the ground died.

[34][35] Meeran Yousaf, the spokesman of Sindh Health Department, has said eight residents of the Model Colony were injured in the crash and most victims' corpses had suffered burns.

[36][37][38] Ten days after the accident, one of the injured residents, a child maid, died in the hospital due to burn injuries.

[40][needs update] Edhi Foundation has reported about 19 bodies being taken away by relatives by force from its morgue, without providing proof to establish identity or waiting for identification through DNA testing.

[41] Some families of the victims have alleged that the DNA identification tests carried out by the authorities were improper, accusing them of delay and misidentification.

[5][note 1] Since the crash occurred during the last days of Ramadan, many people were expected to travel to celebrate Eid al-Fitr with their families.

[50] On 25 June 2020, 150 of 434 pilots employed by PIA were indefinitely grounded for holding "either bogus or suspicious licenses".

[56] On 29 November 2024, the EASA lifted the EU ban, allowing PIA to resume flights to Europe.

[64] Ghulam Sarwar Khan, the federal minister for the Aviation Division, said that the full results of the inquiry would be made available within three months.

[4]: 12  The contact with the runway may have caused substantial damage to the engines' critical components located on the underside, consequently leading to failure.

The recording shows the aircraft touching down on the runway on its engines, with sparks resulting from friction with the asphalt at high speed.