Air travel in Pakistan: Foreign experts fly in to identify aviation woes
ISLAMABAD: After two major air crashes in the last two years, international experts have been, once again, called in to identify problems with Pakistans aviation system and facilities.
A team of experts of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is arriving to look into safety and security arrangements at the countrys airports, sources said.
Earlier in April, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) directed the government to reinvestigate the AirBlue crash through an independent inquiry by international experts. The ICAO team will also look into the matter, sources added.
The ICAO teams visit coincides with visits from two other teams that include experts from the Boeing company. The second team will address the issues related to the insurance of the Bhoja Air crash, sources added.
When contacted, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesperson Pervez George told The Express Tribune that visits by international teams are routine practices. He explained that air crash investigations are conducted by the CAA and the engineers of the manufactures of the plane. If a team from the Boeing is arriving, it is because their reputation is also at stake, he said.
However, George said that he was not aware about the schedule of the ICAO teams visit at this point.
Recent incidents
The past year has been amongst the worst for aviation in Pakistan.
On Friday, two training aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) collided mid-air, killing four pilots on board and a civilian in Nowshera. The ill-fated Mashaq planes were on a flight formation training mission.
Earlier on July 28, 2010, Air blue Airbus 321 crashed into the Margala hills in Islamabad, killing all 152 people on board. Less than two years after that, on April 20, 2012, a Bhoja Air plane crashed in Islamabad killing all 127 on board.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2012.
I am ordering Zardari to punish Airlines failures and crashing. It should be proper way to suspend all airlines til the investigation is solved. The number of civilian died is concern including two pilots and 4 pilotsfrom PAF crash involved. I understood one bird strike and many obsolete jets but it is our responsible to ensure the sky is safety for all citizens. Please punish them to the court.
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Troubled Shaheen: Fuel tank leakage delays flight for five hours
RAWALPINDI: In yet another air travel hiccup, a Shaheen Airline flight was delayed on Saturday after a leakage was identified in the fuel tank of the aircraft.
The Karachi-bound flight, NL-122, was delayed for over five hours at the Benazir International Airport after passengers were handed boarding passes and asked to board the plane at 10 am. However, the engines abruptly stalled when the plane started to take-off.
Passengers were then asked to step off the aircraft and were told that a technical problem had been identified, a businessman from Haripur who was on board the aircraft said.
After a couple of hours, the passengers waiting in the departure lounge were told there was a leakage in the fuel tank and that it had been repaired.
Irked at the information, the passengers, including 12 children, protested in the departure lounge.
The flight finally took off at 3:30 pm.
Shaheen Airlines officials confirmed that the delay was due to a leakage in the fuel tank, adding that it was repaired and the flight left safely for its destination.
Troubled airline
The CAA had recently ordered safety inspections of all airplanes operated by private airlines following the Bhoja Air crash last month to determine whether they were safe to fly but Saturdays leakage cast doubts over how well the job was done.
According to sources, the plane had undergone a full maintenance check, yet the leakage had not been discovered.
Last month, shortly after the Bhoja Air crash, the fuel tank of another Shaheen Air plane began leaking as the aircraft was about to take off from Lahore airport. The same day, emergency was declared in an aircraft of Shaheen Air when its tyre burst during landing in Karachi.
(with additional reporting by Qamar Zaman)
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2012.
A month on, little progress on Bhoja crash
KARACHI: It has been one month since Bhoja Airs Islamabad-bound aircraft crashed, killing all 127 people on board. No one has been charged, no arrests made and no official terminated. The investigation is pending, and the airline is gearing up to restart flights to Islamabad.
Despite promises, the airline has yet to make public its plan for paying the insurance amount. It has directly started approaching the families of victims to submit documents to prove that they are legal heirs.
Compensation
We will pay Rs5 million to each family. That is what the law says, says Jasir Abro, Bhoja Airs spokesperson, referring to the Carriage by Air Act 2012. Up till now, 14 families have submitted the documents.
But Rs5 million is the minimum compensation, which has to be paid in any case. No one in the airline is ready to share the exact size of the insurance cover of the aircraft and the passengers, which could run into hundreds of millions of dollars.
The insurers of Bhoja Air would want to get away with paying just Rs5 million, said an insurance industry official.
People are mostly desperate in these circumstances. They will take the money without realising what they actually deserved, the official said.
The airline appears to be hurrying with the compensation without waiting for investigations into the crash to be completed. The findings, however, could alter the size of the compensation altogether. If its proven that the airline or any of its staff was responsible for the crash, Bhoja Airs liability becomes unlimited the worth of the passengers is then decided by the court.
That is exactly what happened in case of Air Blues 2010 crash. Over two dozen families are filling petitions seeking compensation of around $1 million, a lawyer representing some petitioners told The Express Tribune.
Investigation
With inquiry into the Air Blue crash challenged in court, there is little room for optimism on how fair the Bhoja crash investigation will turn out to be.
Head of Investigation Team Mujahidul Islam insists there is every reason to be optimistic. The Ministry of Defence has given me a free hand. That was not the case before.
The black box has been decoded, he said. I have all the information on how the plane was being flown, what was the altitude, speed, everything. But nothing could be said about the cause of the accident as yet.
Islam says he hopes to prepare the report by middle of July. [Representatives from] Boeing were reluctant to come here because of security concerns but now they have agreed. We are waiting for them to come and share their observations, he said. He added that Bhoja Air was cooperating with the investigation team.
Bhoja Airs Managing Director Arshad Jalil, who also happens to own majority stake in the airline, however, is still on the run, refusing to come back to Pakistan fearing arrest.
Meanwhile, the crash has taken a toll on the airlines operation as well it is operating with just one aircraft, a B737-200. The other, larger B737-400 is being inspected by the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, in Karachi.
A DC-9 aircraft, which Bhoja Air was using earlier, has been sent to Sharjah after some problems were identified in the aircraft in a recent shakedown inspection.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2012.
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I know it is trainer practice collision, it still show us the failures of safety and pilots.
Four pilots killed as PAF trainer aircraft collide
NOWSHERA: Two Pakistan Air Force (PAF) trainer aircraft collided in mid-air on Thursday, killing the four pilots. Eleven people were injured as the debris from the planes crashed on houses near the Rashakai interchange in Risalpur. The collision occurred around 10:20 am while the two aircraft were conducting routine training flights.
A press release issued from PAF Base Risalpur stated: Two PAF Mushshak aircraft, while on a routine training mission, crashed near Rashakai, Risalpur. Four pilots were martyred. A board of inquiry has been ordered to determine the cause of accident.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Nowshera district police officer (DPO) Muhammad Hussain said the two aircraft crashed just eight kilometres away from PAF Base Risalpur. According to his account, the aircrafts wings collided, setting both on fire.
The debris fell on two houses injuring six people, he maintained, adding that the roofs of the houses were destroyed. Hussain said that the injured, along with the pilots bodies, were rushed to the Nowshera Combined Military Hospital (CMH).
An eyewitness Shahzad told The Express Tribune that One of the pilots swerved his plane towards the other, colliding with its wing. He added that one plane fell on the boundary wall of Niazs house, while the other crashed on the roof of another house. The latter was flying low and had caught fire.
He said people rushed to the crash site, adding that the pilots cried for help from their cockpit but no one could help them through the flames.
Locals claimed that the fire brigade arrived late and since ambulance service was unavailable, they pulled the bodies out from the planes and rushed the injured to the hospitals on their own.
Hospital officials claimed they received six civilians with minor injuries.
Sub-inspector Haji Muhammad Khan said that the six injured belonged to Afsar Khans family and were wounded during the second crash.
They are Muhammad Khan, Musa, Farhan, Tufail, Taj Muhammad, Fatima and Shahida Bibi.
The police official added that the first crash injured Niazs wife, Nazakat Bibi, son, Mumlikat and daughter, Zaibun Nisa along with Pir Muhammad, their grandfather.
PAF pilots Squadron Leader Zaigham Ali from Karachi, Squadron Leader Moazam from Faisalabad, Squadron Leader Maqsood from Haripur and Flight Lieutenant Mustafa were laid to rest in their hometowns, according to the PAF release.
The MFI-17 Mushshak, built by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), is a licensed version of the Saab Safari aircraft.
The propeller driven aircraft is flown both by the PAF and Pakistan Army Aviation. It is largely employed as a basic flight trainer and observation aircraft.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 18th, 2012.
PAF aircraft crashes into mountain in Attock - YouTube
JF-17's first crash at the same time with other airlines crash and then super Mushak, what odd.
A surveillance drone of the Pakistan Army crashed near Mianwali on Saturday.
According to official sources, the surveillance drone took off from Mianwali Airbase and crashed near Chakwal. They said that the plane crashed in open fields due to some technical fault and caused no harm to life or property in the area.
This incident took place just a day after when two plane collided and destroyed near Sakai resulted killing of four pilots while at least a half dozen trainer aircrafts of Pakistan Air Force were crashed in last six months.
The sources said debris of the plan has been removed, while investigation is underway.
Results: More than 300+ people and pilots died.
ISLAMABAD: After two major air crashes in the last two years, international experts have been, once again, called in to identify problems with Pakistans aviation system and facilities.
A team of experts of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is arriving to look into safety and security arrangements at the countrys airports, sources said.
Earlier in April, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) directed the government to reinvestigate the AirBlue crash through an independent inquiry by international experts. The ICAO team will also look into the matter, sources added.
The ICAO teams visit coincides with visits from two other teams that include experts from the Boeing company. The second team will address the issues related to the insurance of the Bhoja Air crash, sources added.
When contacted, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesperson Pervez George told The Express Tribune that visits by international teams are routine practices. He explained that air crash investigations are conducted by the CAA and the engineers of the manufactures of the plane. If a team from the Boeing is arriving, it is because their reputation is also at stake, he said.
However, George said that he was not aware about the schedule of the ICAO teams visit at this point.
Recent incidents
The past year has been amongst the worst for aviation in Pakistan.
On Friday, two training aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) collided mid-air, killing four pilots on board and a civilian in Nowshera. The ill-fated Mashaq planes were on a flight formation training mission.
Earlier on July 28, 2010, Air blue Airbus 321 crashed into the Margala hills in Islamabad, killing all 152 people on board. Less than two years after that, on April 20, 2012, a Bhoja Air plane crashed in Islamabad killing all 127 on board.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2012.
I am ordering Zardari to punish Airlines failures and crashing. It should be proper way to suspend all airlines til the investigation is solved. The number of civilian died is concern including two pilots and 4 pilotsfrom PAF crash involved. I understood one bird strike and many obsolete jets but it is our responsible to ensure the sky is safety for all citizens. Please punish them to the court.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Troubled Shaheen: Fuel tank leakage delays flight for five hours
RAWALPINDI: In yet another air travel hiccup, a Shaheen Airline flight was delayed on Saturday after a leakage was identified in the fuel tank of the aircraft.
The Karachi-bound flight, NL-122, was delayed for over five hours at the Benazir International Airport after passengers were handed boarding passes and asked to board the plane at 10 am. However, the engines abruptly stalled when the plane started to take-off.
Passengers were then asked to step off the aircraft and were told that a technical problem had been identified, a businessman from Haripur who was on board the aircraft said.
After a couple of hours, the passengers waiting in the departure lounge were told there was a leakage in the fuel tank and that it had been repaired.
Irked at the information, the passengers, including 12 children, protested in the departure lounge.
The flight finally took off at 3:30 pm.
Shaheen Airlines officials confirmed that the delay was due to a leakage in the fuel tank, adding that it was repaired and the flight left safely for its destination.
Troubled airline
The CAA had recently ordered safety inspections of all airplanes operated by private airlines following the Bhoja Air crash last month to determine whether they were safe to fly but Saturdays leakage cast doubts over how well the job was done.
According to sources, the plane had undergone a full maintenance check, yet the leakage had not been discovered.
Last month, shortly after the Bhoja Air crash, the fuel tank of another Shaheen Air plane began leaking as the aircraft was about to take off from Lahore airport. The same day, emergency was declared in an aircraft of Shaheen Air when its tyre burst during landing in Karachi.
(with additional reporting by Qamar Zaman)
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2012.
A month on, little progress on Bhoja crash
KARACHI: It has been one month since Bhoja Airs Islamabad-bound aircraft crashed, killing all 127 people on board. No one has been charged, no arrests made and no official terminated. The investigation is pending, and the airline is gearing up to restart flights to Islamabad.
Despite promises, the airline has yet to make public its plan for paying the insurance amount. It has directly started approaching the families of victims to submit documents to prove that they are legal heirs.
Compensation
We will pay Rs5 million to each family. That is what the law says, says Jasir Abro, Bhoja Airs spokesperson, referring to the Carriage by Air Act 2012. Up till now, 14 families have submitted the documents.
But Rs5 million is the minimum compensation, which has to be paid in any case. No one in the airline is ready to share the exact size of the insurance cover of the aircraft and the passengers, which could run into hundreds of millions of dollars.
The insurers of Bhoja Air would want to get away with paying just Rs5 million, said an insurance industry official.
People are mostly desperate in these circumstances. They will take the money without realising what they actually deserved, the official said.
The airline appears to be hurrying with the compensation without waiting for investigations into the crash to be completed. The findings, however, could alter the size of the compensation altogether. If its proven that the airline or any of its staff was responsible for the crash, Bhoja Airs liability becomes unlimited the worth of the passengers is then decided by the court.
That is exactly what happened in case of Air Blues 2010 crash. Over two dozen families are filling petitions seeking compensation of around $1 million, a lawyer representing some petitioners told The Express Tribune.
Investigation
With inquiry into the Air Blue crash challenged in court, there is little room for optimism on how fair the Bhoja crash investigation will turn out to be.
Head of Investigation Team Mujahidul Islam insists there is every reason to be optimistic. The Ministry of Defence has given me a free hand. That was not the case before.
The black box has been decoded, he said. I have all the information on how the plane was being flown, what was the altitude, speed, everything. But nothing could be said about the cause of the accident as yet.
Islam says he hopes to prepare the report by middle of July. [Representatives from] Boeing were reluctant to come here because of security concerns but now they have agreed. We are waiting for them to come and share their observations, he said. He added that Bhoja Air was cooperating with the investigation team.
Bhoja Airs Managing Director Arshad Jalil, who also happens to own majority stake in the airline, however, is still on the run, refusing to come back to Pakistan fearing arrest.
Meanwhile, the crash has taken a toll on the airlines operation as well it is operating with just one aircraft, a B737-200. The other, larger B737-400 is being inspected by the regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, in Karachi.
A DC-9 aircraft, which Bhoja Air was using earlier, has been sent to Sharjah after some problems were identified in the aircraft in a recent shakedown inspection.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2012.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know it is trainer practice collision, it still show us the failures of safety and pilots.
Four pilots killed as PAF trainer aircraft collide
NOWSHERA: Two Pakistan Air Force (PAF) trainer aircraft collided in mid-air on Thursday, killing the four pilots. Eleven people were injured as the debris from the planes crashed on houses near the Rashakai interchange in Risalpur. The collision occurred around 10:20 am while the two aircraft were conducting routine training flights.
A press release issued from PAF Base Risalpur stated: Two PAF Mushshak aircraft, while on a routine training mission, crashed near Rashakai, Risalpur. Four pilots were martyred. A board of inquiry has been ordered to determine the cause of accident.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Nowshera district police officer (DPO) Muhammad Hussain said the two aircraft crashed just eight kilometres away from PAF Base Risalpur. According to his account, the aircrafts wings collided, setting both on fire.
The debris fell on two houses injuring six people, he maintained, adding that the roofs of the houses were destroyed. Hussain said that the injured, along with the pilots bodies, were rushed to the Nowshera Combined Military Hospital (CMH).
An eyewitness Shahzad told The Express Tribune that One of the pilots swerved his plane towards the other, colliding with its wing. He added that one plane fell on the boundary wall of Niazs house, while the other crashed on the roof of another house. The latter was flying low and had caught fire.
He said people rushed to the crash site, adding that the pilots cried for help from their cockpit but no one could help them through the flames.
Locals claimed that the fire brigade arrived late and since ambulance service was unavailable, they pulled the bodies out from the planes and rushed the injured to the hospitals on their own.
Hospital officials claimed they received six civilians with minor injuries.
Sub-inspector Haji Muhammad Khan said that the six injured belonged to Afsar Khans family and were wounded during the second crash.
They are Muhammad Khan, Musa, Farhan, Tufail, Taj Muhammad, Fatima and Shahida Bibi.
The police official added that the first crash injured Niazs wife, Nazakat Bibi, son, Mumlikat and daughter, Zaibun Nisa along with Pir Muhammad, their grandfather.
PAF pilots Squadron Leader Zaigham Ali from Karachi, Squadron Leader Moazam from Faisalabad, Squadron Leader Maqsood from Haripur and Flight Lieutenant Mustafa were laid to rest in their hometowns, according to the PAF release.
The MFI-17 Mushshak, built by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), is a licensed version of the Saab Safari aircraft.
The propeller driven aircraft is flown both by the PAF and Pakistan Army Aviation. It is largely employed as a basic flight trainer and observation aircraft.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 18th, 2012.
PAF aircraft crashes into mountain in Attock - YouTube
JF-17's first crash at the same time with other airlines crash and then super Mushak, what odd.
A surveillance drone of the Pakistan Army crashed near Mianwali on Saturday.
According to official sources, the surveillance drone took off from Mianwali Airbase and crashed near Chakwal. They said that the plane crashed in open fields due to some technical fault and caused no harm to life or property in the area.
This incident took place just a day after when two plane collided and destroyed near Sakai resulted killing of four pilots while at least a half dozen trainer aircrafts of Pakistan Air Force were crashed in last six months.
The sources said debris of the plan has been removed, while investigation is underway.
Results: More than 300+ people and pilots died.
