PIMS to test whether PK-661 flight crew was drugged

ISLAMABAD: The district administration and officials at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) said on Monday that they will conduct tests on samples already collected from the crew of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-661 to check whether they had been drugged.

The statement came after directives from the Aviation Division to exhume bodies of the flight crew to carry out the necessary tests came to light on Monday. On December 7, 2016, a French-built ATR-42, was flying from Chitral to Islamabad when it crashed into a hillside in Havelian, killing all 47 people on board. The victims included singer-turned-preacher Junaid Jamshed, his wife and the Chitral deputy commissioner.

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In a letter written by District Health Officer on December 23 to officials at Pims, the officer had requested an autopsy of the two pilots, two flight attendants and one flight officer who were on board flight PK-661. The district health officer had asked for the procedure to ascertain whether the crew had been intoxicated, as required by the investigation board.

The Pims administration, however, denied receiving any written orders to carry out the tests so far. Hospital officials, though, said that they had retained samples from the bodies to carry out the necessary tests.

“It is routine that after every aircraft accident …we have retained samples of all the bodies as a reference and we can run whatsoever tests which the Civil Aviation Authority wishes and there is no need to exhume the bodies at all,” said Professor Dr Javed Akram, the vice chancellor of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU), on Monday. Pims is an attached hospital of SZABMU.

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After the crash in Havelian, and an acute shortage of space in the mortuary at the Ayub Teaching Hospital in Abbottabad, officials had decided to move all 47 bodies to Pims in Islamabad. There, after completing the necessary formalities and taking samples to carry out DNA tests, the bodies had been moved to a cold-storage facility in Rawat.

Deputy Commissioner Mushtaq Ahmad, meanwhile, said on Monday that the letter to exhume bodies of the two pilots, one flight officer and two flight attendants had been withdrawn and that the hospital had been asked to conduct drug tests on samples which the hospital had already taken.

Source: The Express Tribune 

PIA ATR - 42 aircraft PK661 crashes en-route to Islamabad, no survivors 2016

On Wednesday a PIA ATR - 42 aircraft PK661 crashed in the mountains of Havelian while enroute from Chitral to Islamabad. The ill fated plane was carrying 42 passengers along with 5 crew members and lost contact with control tower around 4:41pm. PIA confirmed the crash soon after reports about a plane gone missing began surfacing. One of Pakistan's famous personalities Junaid Jamshed was one of the passengers who lost his life in the crash. Moonis Elahi and all leaders of PMLQ expressed grief and sorrow over the tragic incident and a minute of silence was noted at the PMLQ headquarters.

 

Pakistan International Airlines, the flag bearer of Pakistan, has become controversial about its safety standards and battered planes. Owing to politically influenced hiring in the crew it has become over burdened and a hub of corruption. Moonis Elahi agreed to the nation's call to provide an fair inquiry into the cause of the crash which has shook the nation. People expressed grief and shock on social media and the entire nation criticized Govt's failure to make PIA safe after so many promises and claims which all proved to be false. Such incident will make PIA suffer more losses as more people will try to refrain from flying through the national airlines.

 

According to DAWN news the pilot had made a "MAYDAY" call minutes before the crash. Soon after the take off the left engine failed and the pilot informed about it but it the ground crew thought the plane would make its journey only on a single engine. The 7 year old aircraft has had history of being faulty but the engineers kept it flying. Moonis Elahi stated that during the PMLQ regime public safety was their major concern and the Rescue 1122 is a clear proof. PMLN does not bother itself with such issues it just needs an excuse to stay in the limelight and litter the Mall Rd with their posters.

 

The news of the crash became even more widespread with the loss of Junaid Jamshed who was on the flight. The Pakistani icon was on a religious tour in Chitral and was coming back to Islamabad when he boarded the ill fated PK661. Moonis Elahi has expressed grief over the loss of precious lives lost in the crash. We must learn from our mistakes but unfortunately the incumbent government has never learnt from the past. It continues to play with innocent lives and when a tragedy happens, all PMLN ministers vanish like they never existed. Will there ever be a fair inquiry over this crash? Will we ever see justice provided to the people who lost their lives? Only time will tell.