By declining air safety measures we are playing with lives

The latest incident of plane crash of Bhoja Airline that killed all 127 on-board passengers including nine crew members is the second occurrence in a period of less than two-year since an Airblue airbus dashed in the Margalla Hills on July 28, 2010, killing all 152 onboard people.

Following the tragedy, the government sought a comprehensive judicial investigation into the incident. In the meantime, the Ministry of Defence has ordered the grounding of all aircrafts owned by private companies for their inspection air-worthiness.

The decision was taken following a couple of planes of Shaheen Airlines escaped more disaster in Karachi and Lahore.

In the first incident, aircrafts’ tyres burst while taxiing the leaking of oil from the plane’s tank led to suspension of the flight in Lahore in the second incident. The people were left with no option but to strand at Lahore and Karachi airports for hours.

These ill-fated incidents have revealed how incompetent all the three private airlines in Pakistan are. Without any doubts, steps to ensure air safety have been taken but the     question arises why such steps were taken soon after Airblue crash?

The recent incident has shocked the people because they will now think twice taking a private airliner while conditions in PIA, the national airline, seem no different.

According to the initial inquiry report the aircraft which crashed in Rawalpindi was nearly 27 years old.  Most private companies have been running cheaper and second-hand tyres, which is a criminal acts as planes with used tyres are prone to disasters while landing and taking off.

According to the media reports certain political pressure is reported to behind Bhoja restoring passenger flights although the airline was not observing international flying safety standards.

All the suspicions calls for a through probe to determine what led to the fourth biggest air tragedy in the shortest history of the country.

Furthermore the report should be made public and the people informed what action was taken against those found responsible and what steps the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) taken to avoid such incidents in the future.

The authority has failed to set down and enforce intelligible safety guidelines for smooth operation of air traffic and ensure passengers’ safety. Hardly any safety inspections and due diligence is carried out by the CAA.

How did a plane, 27 years old aircraft which had allegedly been reported for instrument malfunction, get into the air? Why or how was the pilot cleared for landing in such rough weather?

Will anyone behind the tragedy be made accountable or will we simply shelve this as we have shelved air crashes and big and small throughout our history? The government must complete the judicial probe to make CAA and others offer explanation to the people.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=20243

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Apr 25 2012. Filed under National, Opinion, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.