Probe blames PIA engineers for 2016 crash

A probe into the 2016 crash of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane that claimed the lives all the 47 people on board, has revealed that the aircraft had three "technical anomalies" for which the flag carriers engineers were responsible.

Deemed as one of the most disastrous in Pakistan's aviation history, PIA flight PK-661 crashed near Havelian, about 24 nautical miles north of Benazir Bhutto Islamabad International Airport on December 7, 2016, Dawn news reported.

Head of the AAIB Air Commodore Usman Ghani submitted the report on Thursday to a bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC).

According to the investigation report, the crash was the result of three "latent technical factors", including fracture of one of the power turbine blades of Engine 1; a broken/fractured pin inside over-speed governor; and probable pre-existing contamination inside Propeller Valve Module.

The AAIB report, which held the PIA engineers responsible for the disaster, said the aircraft remained in air for about 42 minutes before the crash.

Analysis of the digital flight data recorder indicated that the aircraft's Engine 1 was degraded.

PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan said the management had reviewed the crash report and acknowledged that there were three latent factors that aligned together at the time of the crash.

Had any of these factors happened in isolation, the consequences would not have been so devastating, he added.