Black box of PK-661 recovered from plane wreckage

ISLAMABAD - The black box of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) flight PK-661 that crashed near Havelian on Wednesday has been recovered.

According to PIA, the recovery of black box could prove crucial in digging out the actual cause of mishap that took 48 lives.

'The black box has not been decoded as yet' the statement added.

Black box is actually a flight recorder that keeps track of how and when the plane took off and how it landed or crashed. It records the complete data about the plane and is not vulnerable to any crash.

PIA flight PK-661 took off from Chitral at 3:40pm on Wednesday and crashed near Havelian at 4:16pm, killing all 48 persons on board including five of crew members.

Rescuers said that all bodies of the victims have been recovered from the site of crash and shifted the Islamabad where DNA tests will be carried out for the identification of the victims.

The PIA chairman Azam Saigol while addressing a press in Islamabad ruled out any human error in the plane crash and added that plane was technically sound, and was checked in October. He informed that the captain had flown more than 12,000 hours and the aircraft was nine years old.

"Our focus now is to retrieve all the dead bodies," he added, vowing a full investigation.