First Pics: Plane crashes near Islamabad airport, 127 feared killed

A passenger plane with 127 people on board crashed in bad weather conditions on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Friday.

Bhoja Air flight B4213 went down in a farmland just outside Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport near the Chaklala airbase.

Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhar said civil aviation officials had reported it was unlikely anybody had survived. 118 passengers and nine crew members were on board the ill-fated aircraft which was on its maiden flight from Karachi to Islamabad.

An airport source said the plane was due to land at Islamabad airport at 6:50 pm (1350 GMT) but lost contact with the Air Traffic Control at 6:40 pm and crashed shortly before reaching the runway.

"The weather was bad but can't confirm what the actual cause of the crash was," Jaser Abro, spokesperson of the airline said.