The airline said Flight PK-661 was carrying 42 passengers and five crew members when it lost contact with a control tower on its way from Chitral to Islamabad.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – All 47 people on board the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight that crashed near Abbottabad were killed, the airline said.
A pilot made a mayday call, saying he had lost control of one of the two engines, according to Azam Saigol, PIA’s chairman.
“We were confident that the plane could land with one working engine,” Saigol said. “This is a tragedy. We are not absolving ourselves of any connection to this incident.”
According to Saigol, it’s “highly unlikely that this was a terrorist attack.” He added that the bodies of the victims would be transferred to hospitals in Islamabad at 12:30 p.m. local time.
According to CNN, 500,000 rupees ($5,000) cash will be given to the next of kin of the 47 victims to meet funeral expenses, according to a statement released by PIA Thursday.
The airline said Flight PK-661 was carrying 42 passengers and five crew members when it lost contact with a control tower on its way from Chitral to Islamabad. It crashed into the mountains near Abbottabad and Havelian. Two infants were among the passengers, according to a passenger manifest provided to CNN by Pakistan International Airlines.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority said 46 of the 47 bodies have been recovered.
Pop star-turned-religious artist Junaid Jamshed was among those on board, his manager, Arsalan Khan, told CNN.
The aircraft was an ATR-42 twin-engine propeller plane. The aircraft’s manufacturer, ATR, is a joint venture between Airbus Group and Italy’s Leonardo.
Experienced pilot, regularly checked plane
There were three cockpit crew members aboard the flight: a captain, a first officer and a trainee pilot. PIA spokesman Danial Gillani told CNN that the captain, who had over 12,000 hours of experience, was flying the plane.
The airline’s chairman said the was also a flight trainer for the ATR-42 plane. The ATR-42 that crashed was made in 2007 and had been flown for 18,740 hours, Saigol said. “The ATR plane was a sound plane. We have 11 other ATRs. Every 500 hours, these planes are checked, and this plane had been last checked in October.”
Searchers have recovered the black box from the plane, Pakistan’s military said. But the cause of the crash remains unclear.
Saigol said international agencies will help investigate the cause of the crash.
Wednesday’s crash is the first major airliner accident in Pakistan since 2012 when a Bhoja Air Boeing 737-200 crashed in bad weather while on approach to Islamabad.
The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) expresses its most sincere condolences to the families of the passengers and crew of Pakistan International Airlines Flight 661, who lost loved ones in the accident near Havelian, Pakistan. Our thoughts are with all who have been touched by this tragedy.
In order to learn from such an event and to prevent any repetition, IFALPA stresses the need for a technical investigation into the circumstances of this accident strictly following the provisions laid out in ICAO Annex 13. Its objective should be to determine the accident’s contributing factors and make the necessary safety recommendations.
IFALPA’s accident investigation experts and their operational knowledge of the ATR 42-500 aircraft are at the disposal of the officially involved investigation agencies for advice or consultation during both the investigation process and the drafting of the accident report and related safety recommendations.
The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations represents more than 100,000 pilots in nearly 100 countries around the globe. The mission of IFALPA is to promote the highest level of aviation safety worldwide and to be the global advocate of the piloting profession; providing representation, services and support to both our members and the aviation industry.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
