On 10 July 2006, the aircraft operating the route, a Fokker F27, crashed into a mango garden after one of its two engines failed shortly after takeoff from Multan International Airport.

[1][2][3][4] Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) attributed the causes of the crash to multiple factors.

They failed to carry out the correct emergency procedure and as a result the airspeed rapidly decayed, ultimately stalling the aircraft.

[14] Imtiaz Anwar, an official from the airline who was responsible on the airworthiness of the Fokker fleet of PIA, was also on board.

[4][1][2][15] The aircraft crashed into a mango garden, approximately 1.2 nautical miles northeast of Multan International Airport.

[15][16] Fire brigades managed to reach the site within five to six minutes after the crash, but by that time most of the wreckage had been completely burnt.

[12] Incumbent President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf expressed his grief over the deaths of the passengers and crews.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz ordered then-Minister of Defence Rao Sikandar Iqbal to open an inquiry into the crash.

[19] Traders reportedly closed their shops and mass prayer was held in a public park on the evening of the crash.

They argued that the airline operated flights with too few crew members, promoted incompetent officials, and carried out substandard overhaul work on aircraft, among other flaws.

[23] Academic Staff Association of Bahauddin Zakariya University also criticized PIA officials for the crash, demanding then-PIA chairman Tariq Kirmani to resign.

[25] Following negative sentiments from the public, Pakistani government ordered PIA to ground their Fokker fleet.

[28] Director General of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority announced the formation of a board of inquiry to probe the cause of the crash, headed by Air Commodore Junaid Amin.

[30] Pakistani authorities had asked assistance from multiple foreign experts, including those from Fokker, Rolls-Royce and other air crash investigation agencies.

One of the relatives of the victims of the crash had told PIA authorities to ground the Fokker F27 following a flight from Islamabad to Multan.

[27] Deputy Managing Director of PIA, Farooq Shah, stated that there were no known recorded defects on the involved aircraft in the last 15 days.

Following report from air traffic control that the aircraft had caught fire during the take-off, the runway was inspected for possible clues.

A teardown on the right engine further revealed that the two bolts which retained the bearing of the rear turbine had cracked due to stress.

The stress was caused by improper assembly, which happened during the last overhaul of the engine at a local PIA facility in September 2005.

The right engine suffered partial power loss following the separation of the turbine blades, causing the torque to decrease.

During his attempt to return, the crew didn't pay much attention to the direction of the runway and caused the aircraft to overbank, reaching 30 degree of bank angle at one point.

[5]: 29 The findings subsequently revealed numerous failures from PIA, including the oversight of its fleet, the quality control, the maintenance procedure, and the training of the flight crew.

These were corroborated by findings from Dowty Propellers, Rolls-Royce and Fokker, who also pointed out multiple maintenance errors including the improper assembly of the right main engine bearing.

[5]: 23–24 Citing from the final report of the investigation, the cause of the accident was described as complex and also deeply rooted with the organization and culture of PIA.

Among those recommendations were better pairing of pilot and co-pilot, the implementation of SOAP for all engines, improvements on maintenance and quality control, and further CRM training.

The investigation also ordered parties to comply with the recommendations, stating that those who didn't follow would be proceeded under the existing regulations.

[5]: 10–12 [37] Speaking in the National Assembly of Pakistan, Speaker of the House Chaudhry Amir Hussain issued a rare criticism to the country's aviation regulatory body, the CAA, claiming that "all was not well".

[38] Another member of parliament, Secretary of Defence Tanvir Hussain Syed, was also critical on the perceived ineptitude of CAA officials.

[14][33] In 2015, a petition was filed in Multan to conduct a case against CAA and PIA officials following allegations of negligence and "malicious intent" in the crash of Flight 688.

Lack of corrective actions within PIA maintenance eventually led to the crash of another turboprop, this time involving one of the newly delivered ATR-42, in Havelian in 2016.