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Pakistan grounds all ATR planes after deadly crash

Xinhua, December 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Monday that all French-made ATR planes have been grounded after an ATR plane crashed in northwest of the country last week.

The plane crashed in Havelian, some 100 km northwest of Islamabad, killing all 48 people on board on Dec. 7 possibly for failure of one of its engines.

Investigation is underway and the French manufacturer are expected to join the probe and visit the crash site, aviation sources said.

"In view of Civil Aviation Authority's decision of holding shakedown tests of PIA's entire ATR fleet, it has been decided to keep all ten ATR aircraft grounded till they are cleared after thorough examination," PIA spokesman Danyal Gilani said.

The temporary suspension of the ATR operation will particularly affect the PIA flights to smaller airports like Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur, Zhob, in Balochistan, Bahawalpur, DG Khan in Punjab, Chitral and Gilgit in northern areas and Moenjodaro in Sindh province.

Investigators have already visited the site and have conducted an initial probe. However, the final report will be based on the date in the black box. Endit