ISLAMABAD – Following the horrific crash of PK-661 on Wednesday, Pakistan International Airlines has decided to ground all ten remaining ATR aircraft in its fleet, pending further examination.
The decision came as the national flag carrier decided to conduct a thorough examination of the aircraft, in a bid to avoid any mishap in the future.
“It has been decided to keep all 10 ATR aircraft grounded till they are cleared after thorough examination,” said a PIA press release.
The statement said the “temporary suspension of ATR operation” will affect PIA’s flights to smaller airports such as Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur, Mohenjo Daro, Zhob, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Chitral and Gilgit.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-661 carrying 48 passengers and crew had crashed on the way to Islamabad from Chitral on Wednesday.
On Sunday, the pilot of an ATR-42 flight had aborted the take-off of the Multan-Karachi flight after observing a fault in one of the engines. The plane was temporarily grounded as a precautionary measure.
