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Pakistan National Carrier Grounds ATR Planes After Crash


A security official stands guard beside coffins containing the remains of the 47 victims of the December 7 plane crash at a hospital in Abbottabad.
A security official stands guard beside coffins containing the remains of the 47 victims of the December 7 plane crash at a hospital in Abbottabad.

Pakistan's national carrier says it has grounded its 10 twin-propeller ATR aircraft after a crash killed 47 people last week and a second plane reported technical issues.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on December 12 that its 10 ATR aircraft will be grounded until “they are cleared after thorough examination."

A PIA ATR-42 crashed into a mountainside on December 7 on a flight from the northern city of Chitral to the capital, Islamabad, leaving no survivors.

Pakistani authorities are investigating the causes of the crash. The airline has said one of the plane's two turboprop engines failed.

Another ATR-42 plane faced "technical issues" late on December 11 before it was set to take off from Multan to Karachi, PIA said.

The airline denied media reports that one of the engines caught fire.

Based on reporting by AFP and Dawn

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