Pakistan International Airlines Flight PK-661 was carrying 42 passengers and five crew members when it crashed in the mountains near Abbottabad. The French made ATR-42 twin-engine turboprop aircraft was just 30 miles from its destination.
A pilot made a mayday call, saying he had lost control of one of the two engines, the airline’s chairman said. “We were confident that the plane could land with one working engine,” Saigol said.
The ATR-42 that crashed was made in 2007 and had been flown for 18,740 hours, Saigol said. “The ATR plane was a sound plane,” the chairman said. “We have 11 other ATRs. Every 500 hours, these planes are checked, and this plane had been last checked in October.” – CNN
The Captain of the aircraft reportedly had over 12,000 hours of flight time and was also a certified trainer in the ATR-42.
This is the first major airline accident in Pakistan since 2012. Among the passengers was Junaid Jamshed, one of Pakistan’s most famous rock stars who later turned-Muslim evangelist.
The ATR-42 first entered service in 1985 with over 400 aircraft being produced. It has seating for 42 and 52 passengers, a cruise speed between 269 to 300 knots, service ceiling of 25,000 feet and a range of about 800 nautical miles for the later models.
The cause of the accident is unknown at this time.
Featured Image By Asuspine GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons
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