Small Passenger Plane missing over Pakistan

www.aljazeera.com...

Pakistan plane goes missing with at least 40 on board
National carrier Pakistan International Airlines confirms it lost contact with one of its planes in north of country.

All I can really say is.. I hope this isnt played out as some kind of ''shot down by Indian Defense forces over Kashmir'' story!

a reply to: Agit8dChop

It crashed.

I wouldn't call an ATR 42 a small passenger plane. It's not big, but it's not exactly small either. It crashed into a mountain near Abottabad.

The report I heard said it crashed shortly after takeoff. That suggests a mechanical problem.

They confirmed 42 passengers and 5 crew. They departed at 1330 local (1:30) and the crash occurred at 1640 local (4:40).

a reply to: Zaphod58
Hmmm. I wouldn't say 3 hours later is "shortly after takeoff." Sounds like the report I heard contained some bad info.

a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

There was a lot that was unconfirmed for a long time with this one. It took hours just to verify the passenger count.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

There was a lot that was unconfirmed for a long time with this one. It took hours just to verify the passenger count.

It has now been confirmed. The crew reported a left engine failure, began descent, crashed, no survivors.

Every so often you see a headline that before you even click on it you know it's got to be satire, then you click it and find out it was totally serious.

A few days after the crash, PIA grounded all 10 ATR aircraft in their fleet. The move came after another ATR-42 suffered a fire during engine start in Multan. Yesterday, after inspecting the aircraft, a crew prepared for a test flight to Multan from Islamabaf.

Just before the flight was supposed to depart, airline employees sacrificed a black goat on the ramp next to the aircraft.

www.pakistantoday.com.pk...

The final report is out. Unauthorized/Improper maintenance on the engine, combined with a known engine fault caused a condition that the crew couldn't handle, and the aircraft to go out of control.

www.bea.aero...