ISLAMABAD: As military helicopters ferried the remains of the 47 victims of the plane crash to the capital on Thursday and officials began collecting samples for DNA tests to identify them, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered an inquiry to determine the cause of the disaster.

Engine trouble was initially believed to be responsible, but many questions remain, stirring new worries about the safety record of money-losing national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines.

The PIA’s ATR-42 turboprop aircraft smashed into the mountains near Havelian tehsil of Abbottabad after one of its two engines failed while travelling from Chitral to Islamabad on Wednesday. All the 42 passengers and five crew members were killed. The plane burst into flames upon impact and parts of the wreckage were found hundreds of metres away from the crash site.

PIA chairman Muhammad Azam Saigol said that the ATR-42 had undergone regular maintenance, including an “A-check” certification in October. “I want to make it clear that it was a perfectly sound aircraft,” he said on Wednesday, adding that the aircraft appeared to have suffered a failure in one of its two turboprop engines just before the crash, but this would have to be confirmed by an investigation.

PM orders inquiry to determine cause of disaster; two ASF sky marshals among dead

PIA spokesman Danyal Gilani said the aircraft’s black box had been recovered, but “it will take time to ascertain a reason of the crash”.

Dozens of friends and family members gathered at hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Thursday to identify the badly charred and dismembered remains. Relatives have been asked to submit DNA samples to help the identification process.

In Islamabad, officials were on hand at a sports complex to receive the remains, which were brought by military helicopters.

Six of the victims had already been identified through fingerprints, said Ali Baz, an official at the Ayub Medical Complex.

Funeral prayers were later held for the deceased at PIMS which were attended by relatives, airline officials and hospital staff.

DNA testing would take a little over a week to complete, according to hospital officials.

Senior aviation officials pushed back against allegations that a maintenance lapse had caused the accident.

“One engine of the plane failed after its takeoff from Chitral and the pilot informed us about that in his call to the control. The plane, however, was cleared for flight and that’s why it flew. Had it not been cleared, it would not fly,” said Muhammad Irfan Elahi, a top aviation official.

Rescuers, including hundreds of villagers, had overnight pulled badly burned remains from the smouldering wreckage of the aircraft near the village of Batolni.

“We put into sacks whatever we could find... and carried them down to the ambulance,” a villager said.

A senior rescue official on the site said: “The villagers told us that the plane was shaky before it crashed. It was about to hit the village but it seems that the pilot managed to drag the plane towards the hills.”

The PIA spokesman said pilot Saleh Janjua, who issued a Mayday emergency call before the crash, prevented an even bigger catastrophe by manoeuvring the plane away from populated areas.

Mohammad Asghar adds: Prime Minister Sharif directed the officials concerned on Thursday to investigate the plane crash and carry out DNA tests as soon as possible to identify the victims, according to a government statement.

The PIA chairman and chief executive officer, Aviation Division secretary and Civil Aviation Authority director general briefed the prime minister on the incident.

They said the flight’s crew and pilots were highly experienced and professional with thousands of hours of flying experience behind them. The deceased captain had more than 10,000 flying hours to his credit.

They said the unfortunate aircraft had duly undergone routine and regular maintenance and safety checks, and was declared airworthy in all respects. Its last inspections were carried out in July and November this year.

The prime minister directed that a detailed, independent and transparent inquiry into the crash be held by the Safety Investigation Board and a senior officer from the Air Force be included in the inquiry committee.

“It is imperative that the truth should be brought out and shared with the people in the shortest possible time,” he said.

The prime minister directed the PIA administration to reach out to the affected families and facilitate them in every way to lessen the burden of their bereavement and grief.

He was informed that all the bodies had been shifted to Islamabad for DNA analysis and obtaining samples from the relatives and identifying all the deceased could take up to a week.

The prime minister directed that the process be completed at the earliest.

The meeting was also attended by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and other senior government officials.

Prime Minister Sharif telephoned Taimoor Jamshed, son of Junaid Jamshed, and condoled the death of his father in the plane crash. He also telephoned the father of Chitral’s deputy commissioner Osama Ahmed Warriach and condoled the tragic death of his son, daughter and granddaughter.

All the 47 passengers, including two sky marshals, a flight engineer and five crew members on the ill-fated plane were killed when it plunged into the mountains en route from Chitral to Islamabad on Wednesday.

ASF personnel

The Airport Security Force said that two of its sky marshals — assistant sub-inspector Ahsan Ghaffar and corporal Samiullah — were on board the ill-fated flight when it crashed.

Ahsan Ghaffar was identified from the pistol he was carrying with him and Samiullah from his official identity card and mobile phone.

According to an ASF official, after the funeral prayers offered at the ASF headquarters their bodies were sent to their native towns for burial.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2016