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PIA Flight 661

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Also known as PK661, PIA661, PAKISTAN 661

fatal air accident in Havelian, Pakistan

Key facts

Date
7 December 2016 ( 2016-12-07 )
Summary
Engine failure due to maintenance error, leading to loss of control
Aircraft type
ATR 42-500
Aircraft name
Hasanabdal
Operator
Pakistan International Airlines
Iata flight no
PK661
Icao flight no
PIA661
Call sign
PAKISTAN 661
Registration
AP-BHO
Flight origin
Chitral Airport , Chitral , Pakistan
Destination
Benazir Bhutto International Airport , Islamabad , Pakistan

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Country
Pakistan
Location
Havelian
Number of deaths
47
Show 6 more facts
point in time
2016-12-07
start point
Chitral Airport
flight number
PIA661
number of survivors
0
vessel
ATR 42
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 661 was a Pakistani domestic passenger flight from Chitral to Islamabad, operated by Pakistan's flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines. On 7 December 2016, the aircraft serving the route, an ATR 42-500 twin-turboprop, crashed near Havelian following an engine failure. All 47 people on board died, including singer-turned-preacher and entrepreneur Junaid Jamshed, and the Deputy Commissioner of the District of Chitral.

Four years after the crash, Pakistan Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) published the result of their investigation. In the final report, the crash was described as a unique case and the first ever of its kind in the entire operational life of ATR aircraft. The aircraft's left engine had failed mid-flight and the aircraft's safety system prevented the pilots from resolving the issues, which led to the sudden appearance of a huge amount of drag on the left side. The bizarre nature of the emergency that the crew faced eventually caused them to lose control. The investigation further revealed that faulty maintenance practices within PIA were to blame for such failures and the issue had been allowed to happen by weak oversight by the airline and the nation's aviation regulatory body.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “PIA Flight 661” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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