According to a Baaghi TV report, Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan has said that we had promised the initial report on the Karachi crash by 22nd June.
Ghulam Sarwar Khan said such incidents should be taken seriously and the Parliament should be involved. The PIA plane experienced a disaster during landing. Cockpit records exist. A board consisting of qualified individuals was formed for the investigation of the incident. A ten member team of French investigators arrived in Pakistan on 26th May. Investigation and analysis was concluded by 1st June.
The Federal Minister for Aviation said that the report presented today is an initial report and inquiry continues. It was said that pilots are also stakeholders so we included to AirBlue pilots in the investigation team. We wrote to the International Pilots Association to send us an experienced A320 pilot who can join the inquiry team, and also a technician. Turkish Airlines has the biggest fleet of A320s. We formulated another ten member team composed of Doctors and Pilots.
The Federal Minister for Aviation further said that this plane came back on air on 7th May after complete checks. It had completed 6 flights by 22nd May. One flight was for Sharjah and five flew the Lahore-Karachi-Lahore route. The pilot and co-pilot were both experienced and medically fit to fly the plane.
The Federal Minister for Aviation further said that the pilot did not point out any technical fault in the plane. The plane had to be on an altitude of 2500 feet at a distance of 10 miles from the runway. However, its altitude was higher than that. According to initial investigations it was at a height of 7220 feet. The ATC (Air Traffic Controller) thrice warned the pilot that his altitude is too high for landing and he should turn around and come back. However, the pilot ignored these warnings of the controller.
The Federal Minister said that when the plane approached the runway, according to data entry, its landing gear was engaged but then it was disengaged, which is dangerous. The plane touched the ground on its engines without a landing gear at 4500 feet after which it kept rubbing along the ground for 3 or 4000 feet. At this point, sparks flew from the engines. The pilot powered up the engines and took off again, but both engines had become damaged by then. That is why it could not land and crashed on a residential area instead.
The Federal Minister said that both pilots and controllers have responsibility for it. This is an initial report and further investigation continues. All bodies have been given to the families, except one. 21 houses were damaged. I myself visited the area. Some houses need total reconstruction and some need repair. We have placed the residents at the Airport Hotel and other areas and are paying the rents between 30 to 50,000 rupees. We will also reimburse the owners of the damaged cars.
The Federal Minister said that there were no survivors of the Bhoja crash of 20th April 2012. The AirBlue crash was also attributable to pilot error. Then the Chitral ATR crash took place at Havelian. That was not due to pilot error but due to technical issues in the plane. The rest were due to pilot error.
Federal Minister for Aviation said that there was a crash landing at Gilgit Airport in which there was no loss of life. Investigation of that incident continues. We will try our best that all reports emerge by the end of this year. Also, there should not just be reports but also action taken against those responsible. The purpose of inquiries is not to play blame-games but to improve processes and procedures. When everything became public the Supreme Court also took notice. During degree verification, it turned out that there are people with fake degrees at PIA. Unfortunately this included four pilots as well. They went to court but got no relief from there. That was the reason for which we wanted that everyone else should also get investigated.
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