Aircraft Accident Investigation Board of Pakistan has released the inquiry report of the 2016 PIA PK-661 plane crash near Havelian, holding PIA engineers responsible for the incident.
According to the report, a ‘fractured turbine blade’ and ‘broken OSG pin’ of one of the ATR aircraft’s engine started a ‘complicated’ series of events that led to the fatal crash in December 2016.
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The turbine blade and the OSG pin of the ATR aircraft malfunctioned during the penultimate flight from Peshawar to Chitral. Notwithstanding the fractured blade and broken OSG pin, the PIA engineers allowed the plane for the flight from Chitral to Islamabad that crashed near Havelian, the report states.
After taking off for the last time, the propeller electronic control of the ATR aircraft malfunctioned due to fuel contamination in the engine oil coupled with the broken OSG pin and fractured turbine blade, reducing the speed of the propeller. This led to the failure of the engine, resulting in a fatal crash.
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Moreover, PIA engineers delayed the overhaul of the ATR aircraft despite it completing more than 10,000 flight hours.
On 7 December 2016, the PIA PK-661 ATR aircraft had crashed near Havelian, killing all 47 passengers including religious scholar Junaid Jamshed and then Deputy Commissioner (DC) Chitral Usama Warraich.
