PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International) has formally grounded its fleet of ATR - Avions de Transport Régional (EVX, Toulouse Blagnac) turboprops following the crash of ATR42-500 AP-BHO (msn 663) near Islamabad International last week which killed all forty-two passengers and six crew onboard.

The aircraft was en-route from Chitral to Islamabad when the port side engine reportedly suffered a failure. The crew then shutdown the engine shortly before declaring an emergency. The turboprop disappeared from radar screens a short while after.

PIA said in a statement that the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PkCAA) was in the process of conducting a series of shakedown tests on the carrier's remaining five ATR42-500s and five ATR72-500s. As such, the turboprops would only be returned to commercial service once they had been given the green light by the regulator.

As a consequence of the grounding, PIA says it expects disruptions in flights to smaller airports such as Gwadar, Turbat, Panjgur, Mohenjadaro, Zhob, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Chitral, and Gilgit over the coming days.