“PIA Plane Crash Flight PK-661” Pakistan international airline PK-661 7th December 2016 was a domestic flight from Chitral to Islamabad. Flight was having 42 passengers, five crew members on board. PK-661 was crashed near Havelian 45 minutes after taking off from Chitral. All 47 people were died on board.
Plane Crash
The aircraft left Chitral airport at 3:30 PM and was expected to land on Benazir Bhuto airport Islamabad at 4:40 PM. Before the crash the crew issued the call for help. The aircraft crashed about 4:15 PM leaving wreckage ablaze on the hill side between the villages. According to an eyewitness, Mohammad Haroon, the aircraft flew at a very low altitude and made a high-pitched noise, flying in an unsteady up and down position before crashing into the hillside. There was a huge bang after the plane hit the mountainside and caught fire.
Passengers and crew
There were five crew members. The captain, first officer, trainee pilot, two flight attendance and forty two passengers on the board Aircraft. Forty four were Pakistani citizens, and the one Austrian, one South Korean and one Chinese. The captain was an experienced pilot with over 12,000 flight hours during his career.
Consequences
According to Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority said to have determined that the aircraft’s left engine failed at an altitude of 13,375 feet 4077 m and exploded, damaging the left wing and disorderly the aerodynamics. The pilot reported the engine failure at 16:12, which was followed by a rapid uncontrolled descent and the disappearance of the aircraft from ground radar a few minutes later.
Risk
The international aviation protocol were not followed by the engineering staff who checked the plan and declared that the plane was in a good condition to fly. It was known to the engineering staff that one of the engine of the plan is not function properly. And still they allowed the flight and putting all the people lives at risk.
They have already known that aircraft needs maintenance. Only one engine was working the other engine was completely disordered then why did they take risk?
Losses
The fateful accident took a life of 47 people including crew members among the dead was Pakistan famous scholar Junaid Jamshaid and his wife.
According to BBC report the crash rate of PIA is higher than other airlines of the world. This is due to old infrastructure and poor operation and maintenance facilities for the aircraft.
“PIA Plane Crash Flight PK-661” By Misbah Riaz.