Pakistan grounds all ATR planes after deadly crash

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Monday that all French-made ATR passenger carriers have been grounded after an ATR plane crashed in northwest of the country last week, killing all 48 on board.

The plane crashed in Havelian on December 7, possibly because of the failure of one of its engines.

Investigation was underway and the French manufacturer were expected to join the probe and visit the crash site, aviation sources said.

"In view of Civil Aviation Authority's decision of holding shakedown tests of PIA's entire ATR fleet, it has been decided to keep all ten ATR aircraft grounded till they are cleared after thorough examination," PIA spokesman Danyal Gilani said.

The temporary suspension of the ATR operation will particularly affect the PIA flights to smaller airports like Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur, Zhob in Balochistan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab, Chitral and Gilgit in Northern Areas, and Moenjodaro in Sindh province.

Investigators have already visited the site and have conducted an initial probe. However, the final report will be based on the data in the black box.

--IANS

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