[Breaking news update at 8:09 a.m. ET]
Pop star Junaid Jamshed was among the 40 passengers on board Pakistan International Airlines Flight PK-661, his manager told CNN.
[Breaking news update at 7:50 a.m. ET]
Pakistan International Airlines Flight PK-661 has crashed, officials said Wednesday.
“The plane had crashed on the border of Abbottabad and Haripur,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial spokesman Mushaq Ghani said.
The airline said PIA’s ATR-42 aircraft was carrying 40 passengers when it lost contact with a control tower on its way from Chitral to Islamabad.
[Previous story, published at 7:47 a.m. ET]
Pakistan International Airlines Flight PK-661 carrying 40 passengers has lost contact with a control tower, the airline said in a statement Wednesday.
“We regret to inform that PIA’s ATR-42 aircraft operating as PK-661, carrying around 40 persons lost its contact with control tower on its way from Chitral (Pakistan) to Islamabad a short while ago,” the statement said.
“All resources are being mobilized to locate the aircraft. Media will be kept informed as situation develops.”
The ATR-42, a twin-engine propeller plane, is a workhorse of short-haul flying. The aircraft’s manufacturer, ATR, is a joint venture between Airbus Group and Italy’s Leonardo.