Aviation ministry of Pakistan said that a probe was opened into the crash of the PIA flight PK-661 that killed 47 people on board, including crew on Wednesday.
Pakistan military helicopters ferried remains of plane crash victims to Islamabad on Thursday. There were 42 passengers and five crew members.
The twin-propeller aircraft of the national airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, was travelling from Chitral to Islamabad on Wednesday when its engines failed shortly after takeoff and crashed in a village in Abbottabad district, according to Pervez George spokesperson of Civil Aviation Authority.
Witnesses said that the plane first tilted while it went down and burst into flames when it crashed into the village in Gug. Locals were involved in the rescue work.
"The plane was swaying ... then I saw it hitting the hill with a loud bang," said Chaudhry Rustam, a villager.
"When we lifted one of its wings, there was a heap of body remains under it," said social worker Jabir bin Khayan.
Bodies of only five victims were identified. Other bodies were burnt beyond recognition, said a spokesperson of a hospital in Abbottabad.
"We are sending body parts of all the passengers to Islamabad for DNA tests," he said.
The flight had lost contact with the control tower before crashing. The black box recorder was found,said PIA chairman.
The remains were brought to a sports complex on Thursday where senior government and PIA officials were present. They will be taken to forensic labs at hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The DNA tests can take up to six days.
There have been air crashes with heavier casualty rates in the past years in Pakistan. In 2012, an aircrash near Islamabad killed 127. In 2010, an aircrash killed 150 people onboard.
