KARACHI, July 22: The Civil Aviation Authority will complete the inquiry into the PIA Fokker crash in two and a half to three months.

CAA Deputy Director-General Air Vice-Marshal Mohammed Safdar Khan told a press conference here on Saturday that the board of inquiry constituted for the purpose had started the inquiry.

“The cause of destruction of the Fokker plane is yet to be determined, however, the cause of occurrence of the crash was problem in the engine on right side of the aircraft,” he said.

He said the board headed by Air Commodore Junaid Amin comprised Wing Commander Nasim, Group Captain Mujahid Islam of the air force, PIA Flight Safety Senior Vice-President Capt Dara, two accredited members from Rolls Royce and one from the Fokker company. He said the representatives of Rolls Royce and Fokker had arrived here five or six days ago.

In reply to a question, the CAA deputy chief said Fokker planes were airworthy and the government had decided that the PIA’s F-27 passenger flights should not be operated in view of sentiments of the people.

Replying to another question, he said the CAA staff and fire tenders had reached the crash site three miles from Multan in six minutes.

“The aircraft crashed fifty seconds after takeoff,” he said.

He said the flight data and voice recorders would lead the investigators close to what had happened “but a final conclusion will be reached when everything else is taken into account.”

He said all operational airports of the CAA were safe.