ATR team to come to Pakistan, help investigate PK-661 crash: aviation sources

E-Paper | May 03, 2026

A team from France-based ATR will help probe the PK-661's Haveliyan crash of Dec 7 with a group of experts affiliated with the aircraft manufacturer expected to arrive in Pakistan in the next 24 hours, aviation sources told DawnNews.

Sources added that the French embassy has also ensured full cooperation in the investigation.

The plane's black box and audio recorder will be sent to France on Monday or Tuesday, sources told DawnNews, adding that data retrieved from the black box and recording device in France will be handed to Pakistan's Safety and Investigation Board (SIB).

Sources said data analysis will take another two to three weeks, adding that data decoded from the black box and the voice recorder will determine the direction of the investigation.

The PIA flight carrying 48 passengers and crew crashed on the way to Islamabad from Chitral on Wednesday. The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed there were no survivors from the ill-fated flight.

Popular singer-turned-preacher Junaid Jamshed also perished in the crash along with his wife.

Our readers are at the heart of everything we do.
Do you have a thought to share or a way we can improve? We’d love to hear it. Reach out to us at feedback@dawn.com.

Pakistan

PIA crash: High court order to make CAA’s safety board an autonomous body not implemented

Pilot made Mayday call soon after take-off

PIA flight PK-661 crashes enroute to Islamabad, no survivors

Philosopher (from Japan)

Dec 10, 2016 02:34pm

No report will be published for general public as per previous practice.

Recommend 0

The end is near

Dec 10, 2016 03:21pm

Nothing will happen. The actual facts that caused the crash will be manipulated or never made public as always. This is Pakistan. Crminal negligence of PIA caused the death of innocent passengers including the death of famous Pakistnani celebrity Junaid Jamshaid.

Recommend 0

Princess_of_DHUMP

Dec 10, 2016 04:13pm

@Philosopher (from Japan) For Bhoja Air Crash (2012) report and Air Blue crash (2010) reports were published. There is no report however that can cure for inherent negativity though!

Recommend 0

Fez

Dec 10, 2016 04:20pm

@Princess_of_DHUMP Inherent negativity or a dose of realism? Were such reports acted upon for the future? Doesnt look like it. One of your countries greatest celebrities, who during his pop career had all the fame and fortune in the world, died at the hands of negligence. You call this inherent negativity, dear me.

Recommend 0

Philosopher (from Japan)

Dec 10, 2016 04:32pm

@Princess_of_DHUMP the iherent negativity that can care human lives is far better than the brutal positivity of self centered cruelty. I pray such kind of incident wouldn't be happened with your friends n family in future.

Recommend 0

shafiq

Dec 10, 2016 04:50pm

What will these reports do???will they bring back the loved ones who perished???and will whoever was negligent be found???? this report will never be made public and just stashed in some files

Recommend 0

azam

Dec 10, 2016 04:56pm

I'm a eye witness of crash,pilot attempted to land on road in front of pof havelian,then aborted landing,probably was high,,,,,turned left for re attempt, after 2-3km collided with hill in good visibility,,,,no fire,engine was running, controls seems to b working,,,,, pilots imphetic over confidence seems/resulted in collision with hill,,,,

Recommend 0

Dec 10, 2016 05:04pm

How amazing !!! As if the ATR team will impartially investigate. They have commercial interest involved in this. why not ask NTSB or AAIB or Canadian air crash investigators ? They are renowned for investigating some very complex incidents in history of air traffic accidents., and they do it impartially too.

Recommend 0

Shahzad S Iqbal

Dec 10, 2016 05:07pm

@azam this is a major revelation by you. You must report this to the inquiry authorities.....

Recommend 0

Harmony-1©

Dec 10, 2016 05:11pm

@Fez@Philosopher (from Japan) - Correct point was made by @PrincessofDHUMP that previous incidents reports were actually published. The corrective measures to be taken to minimise such incidents and whether they were implemented is the next step but that is only possible after the report of the cause of accident is published - a necessary postmortem! So, don't mix the two together.

Recommend 0

Your Name

Dec 10, 2016 05:26pm

@Shahzad S Iqbal if interested,enquiry committee have to visit villages of waziran,darroni maira,mallah, they will find dozen of witnesses,describing same,,,, these villages are situated parallel to plane's path approx more then 1km far,,,,in cricket terminology watched events happening from square leg position,,,

Recommend 0

Harun Ahamed

Dec 10, 2016 05:56pm

Please investigate after horrific death of passengers and their burial. We do investigations but after the death of people be it terror attack or plane crash. We are the most irresponsible country in the world for the safety pf our people. The government and all its agencies including army have failed to provide minimum safety to ordinary people. We love to talk big, claim big, but do nothing.

Recommend 0

Hasan

Dec 10, 2016 06:22pm

Report was published for airblue and i hope it will also be for this sad crash. More important is to take actions, later on report recommendations, which is a difficult part in Pakistan.

Recommend 0

Basit Ali

Dec 10, 2016 06:28pm

@azam Please do not make false claim, why would the pilot want to land on the road if there were no problems?

Recommend 0

Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Dec 10, 2016 07:11pm

What else can they do?

Recommend 0

azam

Dec 10, 2016 07:33pm

@Basit Ali heard engine sound from from more then 1 km turning ,no fire was visible from where I was,mentioned my location along with surrounding areas,attempting to land /on road is my assumption b coz plane was lower in valley over the road,,,,,

Recommend 0

Masood

Dec 10, 2016 07:38pm

It is shame that Pakistani cannot investigate in Pakistan. Most of the countries do them self except Pakistan. Awake up.

Recommend 0

Princess_of_DHUMP

Dec 10, 2016 07:41pm

@Philosopher (from Japan) I was responding to your point that they weren't published without any knowledge. I have read those and can confirm that many of the recommendations were indeed implemented. Blaming the 'system' without doing any research is inherent negativity in my opinion.

Recommend 0

azam

Dec 10, 2016 08:32pm

@Basit Ali no one can negate in the world. what I'm trying to write/saw, ''entered the v shape valley from havelian side lowerd,after 4 km turned back towards havelian & collided with hill near havelian,when turned back engine were sounding,'',, First Google the area then decide your self ,instead of going straight in wider valley,why he turned back close to hills, resulted in collision,

Recommend 0

Pakistan

Dec 10, 2016 08:33pm

Bigger fish will walk free..don't raise hopes.

Recommend 0

Dec 10, 2016 09:06pm

@The end is near Unfortunately you are correct. PIA needs to be sued. For once, someone needs to be held accountable. But again, this is Pakistan.

Recommend 0

Dec 10, 2016 09:25pm

@Oz - probably they will investigate seriously if they are concerned about their product. In fact , higher chances are that they are competitive people who will do anything to rectify mistakes on their part .

Recommend 0

Farzana khan

Dec 10, 2016 09:53pm

They are going to blame the pilot as usual.Will they blame the maintenance guys? Never......

Recommend 0

Farzana khan

Dec 10, 2016 10:00pm

@azam why would he try to land if there is no problem? Do not spread lies or disinformation as it will cost more lives in future and may be your loved ones too.

Recommend 0

Sukhera

Dec 11, 2016 01:23am

@azam.I am not doubting your version but it does not add up. The plane was flying at over 13 thousand feet and according to the radar data it suddenly lost altitude and came down to 3-4 thousand feet in few seconds.The pilot reported the left engine was not functioning but it's not a problem because the plane can fly with one engine.The initial data also indicates that the left engine exploded midair and damaged the left wing which affected the structure of the plane.If there is a structural damage like losing a part of the wing, the pilot has no control on the plane and can't glide. The pilot may have tried to land on the road when the plane was losing altitude and could not sustain altitude.According to you both engines were running,blades rotating and no structural damage does not support the pilot,s version of events who is not here.We will know in a few weeks what exactly happened.The French team is here and will analyze data from the black box/ voice recorder.Let us wait and see.

Recommend 0

Adil Rasool

Dec 11, 2016 02:52am

what a joke, ATR will never say it was the planes fault, should have given to impartial body but we all know how the country works

Recommend 0

T.M.Wazir

Dec 11, 2016 04:08am

These smaller planes must be grounded from flying from the PIA fleet. PIA should adopt some Boeing 737 instead, they are neither big nor small and the track record is very reliable.

Recommend 0

Sonny afridi

Dec 11, 2016 06:44am

ATR are safe aircrafts. I will wait for the investigation but I would point the blame at corrupt crooked PIA

Recommend 0

disposable janan

Dec 11, 2016 08:36am

@azam kindly refrain from making any judgmental assumptions from your own observations from "the ground". There are much better and sophisticated methods for analysing such incidents.

Recommend 0

Munawer

Dec 11, 2016 09:39am

you are right philosopher

Recommend 0

Masoud

Dec 11, 2016 09:51am

What is the need Khawaja Saad Rafiq the railway minister has already given a clean chit to PIA management thus investigation will very likely point to human error that died with the pilot.

Recommend 0

Gustaakh

Dec 11, 2016 10:21am

Make it public this time !

Recommend 0

Shanzeh

Dec 11, 2016 01:23pm

This is nearly the lack of management of our pathetic authorities....... I say shame on them for this coward decision of taking plane that is not ready for take off....

Recommend 0

Junaid

Dec 11, 2016 01:41pm

The integrity and validity of data analysis to determine the cause of accident is very critical. The block box data should be analyzed by a neutral third party; PIA and ATR both have stakes in protecting their own interests!

Recommend 0

F.A.R

Dec 11, 2016 03:26pm

The plane ATR which crashed down on 7th Dec.16 near Islamabad was very old, I was one of the passenger who did flight 4 times in two weeks in Nov.16. The plane was out of order. I am surprised how the airline was using such an old fitioned airplane. In my point of view the air line is responsible for this incidence.

Recommend 0

Azam

Dec 11, 2016 06:08pm

@disposable janan kindly quote 1exampel in entire Pakistan's air crash history,where these sophisticated systems were applied........mostly plane manufacturer &operator along with impotent caa investigates,excluding CAA bothe others are interested parties,,,,, even ntsb is ccriticised for favouring usa plane manufacturers,,,,request u to read what I saw with out any assumptions in reply to viewer

Recommend 0

Azam

Dec 11, 2016 06:32pm

@Sukhera I agree with u,want to clerify i heard engine sounding from 1km,can't determine one or bothe,,,,,,here most with pre occupied mind are un able to digest reality,,,,,

Recommend 0

Junaid

Dec 12, 2016 06:11am

ATR has the its own interest; the investigation ought to be done by a neutral third party!

Recommend 0

Branded Content

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa expands climate action with one Million Tree Drive and forest reforms

The province is turning policy into action through a series of large scale programmes aimed at rebuilding ecosystems and improving resilience against rising climate pressures.

Taptap Send, Arshad Nadeem partner to highlight Pakistan’s unsung champions

The initiative comes at a time when cricket continues to dominate national attention, often overshadowing achievements in other sports.

NexGen Auto (Nishat Group) to Introduce iCAUR in Pakistan

As one of Pakistan’s leading business groups, Nishat Group operates across key sectors including textiles, cement, banking, insurance, power and agriculture.