PIA Flight 661
Sign in to saveAlso 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
- Instance of
- aviation accident
- Country
- Pakistan
- Operator
- Pakistan International Airlines
- Location
- Havelian
- Number of deaths
- 47
Show 6 more facts
- point in time
- 2016-12-07
- destination point
- Benazir Bhutto International Airport
- 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.