Islamabad (Staff Report): The five-member crew of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-661, which crashed near Havelian on the way to Islamabad from Chitral, might have been poisoned or drugged before they departed Chitral airport, investigation report revealed.
According to the investigation team of ongoing investigation into the PK-661 crash, the crew of the flight might have been poisoned or some intoxicating substance was given to them.
According to details, the investigators have decided to exhume the bodies of the pilots and other crew members of the plane.
The Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) has issued directives to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) to form a special medical board comprising senior doctors to exhume the bodies of the crew members and examine the remains for suspected poisoning.
They said that special permission would be taken from the district administration for exhumation of bodies and the process will be carried out under the supervision of the CADD ministry.
Meanwhile, PIMS administration confirmed receiving directives to from special panel for exhumation of bodies.
The PIA’s flight, PK-661, crashed into a hillside near Havelian while travelling from Chitral to the capital, killing all 48 people on board including crew.
The black box of the ill-fated plane was sent to France to the ATR company for decoding. But the transcript analysis of the contents has failed to find the real cause of the crash.
According to decoding report, both engines of the aircraft were running 100 per cent fine when the plane took off from Chitral. Also one of the engines was still working when the plane crashed.
The black box data indicates that no effort was made to land the aircraft before the crash, so investigations are trying to determine why the plane crashed despite the fact that one of its engines was properly working.
It also stated that, ATRs are designed in such a way, that even if both the engines fail, the plane can still glide for a little while and the pilot can then try and make it land safely.
The weather conditions on the day of the crash were also normal and the pilot had extensive experience of flying in the northern areas, which led investigator to consider other possibilities.
