Pakistan International Airlines Chairperson Azam Saigol said the ill-fated ATR-42 aircraft that crashed in Abbottabad district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday was “fit to fly”. He said, “The plane that crashed on Wednesday was A-checked in October. There is no room of human error regarding fitness certification of the plane.” He added that the certification is conducted in all 11 ATR aircraft after every 500 hours of flying, reported Geo News.
Investigators have also recovered the black box of the crashed plane. PIA officials said they will now decipher information from the flight data recorder that may prove crucial to the investigation. Aviation Division Secretary Irfan Elahi told Dawn that an investigation team, led by Air Commodore Munir Ahmed, has been formed to find out the cause of the crash. PIA chairperson Saigol hinted that international agencies may help in carrying out the investigation, reported Geo News.
According to Aviation Herald, the flight had reported technical snags with its left engine shortly after take-off. It had made a distress call to the control tower, informing it that that left engine was not functioning. Minutes later, the pilot made another call, saying, “Mayday! Mayday”, reported Dawn.
A Civil Aviation Authority official said pilots used the code word “Mayday” to indicate an emergency. He also claimed that emergency was declared at Benazir Bhutto International Airport soon after receiving the phone call. The pilot had also sought permission for an emergency landing but the plane vanished from the radar soon and the communication system stopped.
The flight was carrying 48 people when it crashed. There were no survivors.
Meanwhile, aviation division spokesperson Sher Ali Khan said the bodies would be carried to hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad in helicopters on Thursday morning for DNA examination. After the tests, families will be allowed to take the bodies for burial. Till now, only five bodies have been identified, according to Geo News. The crash took place when the PK-661 flight was en route to Islamabad from Chitral. It was scheduled to reach the Pakistan capital at 4.40 pm (local time).
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