Presenting interim inquiry report of PIA’s plane crash in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said pilot of the ill-fated aircraft and air traffic controller (ATC) did not follow the set landing procedure that caused the tragedy and claimed lives of 97 persons on May 22.
“The pilot was overconfident and attempted to land the plane before certain height despite the ATC’s warning, asking ‘I will manage it’. The ATC did not inform the pilot about the damage occurred to the engines when the plane touched the land thrice, and took off again. The ATC should have asked for the emergency landing,” the minister said, sharing the findings of the interim report.
According the cockpit voice recorder, he said the pilot was not focused and had been discussing the coronavirus throughout the flight, even during the landing attempt. “Both the pilots were discussing Covid-19 as it had affected their families and were not focused on the aircraft,” he added. “The pilot and co-pilot were highly experienced and fully medically fit, but not focused,”
Sarwar said the plane was 100 percent fit and had made six flights during May 7-22, after the government resumed the flight operation suspended to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The minister said the interim report had been compiled based on the evidence collected from the data entry recorder, cockpit voice recorder, plane debris and the incident site by the inquiry team. He said as per the data record before landing of the aircraft, the landing gear were put down, but reason unknown the gear were taken back. He noted that the aircraft touched the runway thrice without the landing gear which caused damage to its engines. “When the plane took off again, both its engines had been damaged,” he said, adding that without taking instructions, the pilot again took off the aircraft.
The minister said that the pilots had ignored the instructions of the air traffic control on the height of the aircraft. “The pilots and the ATC both did not follow the protocol,” he said. “The pilot ignored the instructions of the air traffic controllers, and the ATC, on the other hand, did not inform the pilot about the engine colliding,” he revealed, adding that the aircraft was on auto landing but the pilot dis-engaged auto landing and brought it to manual landing.
“Those who have passed away, May Allah Almighty forgive them. Those who are responsible will be held accountable,” he said, adding that complete report of the aircraft crash will be presented in the Parliament during the current year.
He said that the Bhoja air crash and the Air Blue tragedy had been caused as a result of the pilots’ faults. He said it is an interim report and assured the House that the full-fledged report will be completed in a free, fair and transparent manner along with suggested action against the responsible within a period of one year.
Soon after the tragedy, the minister said a four-member inquiry board, comprising three experienced officers from Pakistan Air Force and one from Civil Aviation Authority, had been constituted and later two experienced pilots of A-320 aircraft and one from Turkish Airlines were included in the team. A 10-member team of French experts, including the plane and engine manufacturers, also participated in the probe.
He recalled that in the recent past, the exact reports of inquiries, conducted into the six airplane crashes including that of Bhoja airline crash in Islamabad, Air Blue crash in Islamabad, PIA ATR plane crash in Havelian and a crash landing in Gilgit, were not made public. He said the government had compensated families of the victims by giving each of them Rs 1 million.
He said the airplane crashed over civilian population and badly destroyed 29 houses and vehicles but people remained safe except three girls who were burnt in the debris of the buildings. Later one of the girls died and her family was also compensated. The two injured girls were given complete medical assistance by the government and the PIA.
He said in the past, the PIA was politicised and 846 pilots and technical staff of the airline got jobs on fake degrees and licences as was revealed after the checking ordered by the Supreme Court on a suo moto notice. The minister said out of 860 active pilots working in various airlines of the country, 262 had not appeared in the examination. About 30 percent of pilots working in Pakistan are flying aircraft with fake licenses. He said that these pilots had not given the exams themselves nor did they have the proper flying experience, he added.
“Pilots are also appointed on political basis, unfortunately,” he said. “Whilst appointing pilots, merit is ignored,” he said, adding that the government will take action against PIA pilots who were found guilty of the above offenses. He urged the political parties not to politicize this issue as it is linked with security of the country.
Later talking to media, the minister revealed 262 pilots having suspicious flying licences will be grounded immediately. “Their [pilots] licences are doubtful due to certain reasons including dates of examination and exams. There are some pilots who did not appear in any paper, out of eight, but managed to get the licences. Among them are those working with the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Airblue, Serene, private clubs and foreign airlines,” he said.
The minister said such an irregularity cannot be committed without connivance of the licence issuing authority and the information technology personnel, and the government has reached those ‘characters’, among whom ‘some are internal and some external’. “Now our hands are on their neck and they too will not be able to escape,” he said, adding that the government has decided that all such pilots will be issued show cause notices and charge sheets so that they cannot fly any plane. He said criminal proceedings will also be initiated against the fake licence holder pilots as the government cannot allow anyone to put the lives of its citizens at risk.
During the degree verification process, he said, educational credentials of around 600 employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), including four pilots, were found fake.
