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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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			<title>Bhoja Air crash: IHC forms judicial commission to probe crash</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/572956/bhoja-air-crash-ihc-forms-judicial-commission-to-probe-crash</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/572956/bhoja-air-crash-ihc-forms-judicial-commission-to-probe-crash#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 05 Jul 13 17:54:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[azam.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=572956</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Judicial commission to submit report identifying cause of the accident.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Islamabad High Court on Friday took notice of the delays in investigation of the Bhoja aircraft crash, that took place on April 20 last year killing all of the 152 passengers on board.

The families of the deceased had taken the airline administration to court for its failure in compensating them according to its policies.

The families also demanded that an investigation be carried out into the crash.

A passenger, Sardar Kainaf Hussain who lost his son and mother in the accident features on the top of the IHC's statement.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui ordered that a judicial commission be formed under the supervision of Justice (Retd) Khalilur Rehman Ramday to investigate the cause of the accident.

Bhoja Airline was asked to pay Rs5 million to the Chairman as a commission fee and Rs1 million to the associate member. The commission will be expected to answer seven questions in three months' time.

The commission will set out to ascertain if the license issued to Bhoja Air was in accordance with law and whether the aircraft meets specific requirements, related to the aircraft's mileage, maintenance record and airworthiness.

The professional experience, health and qualifications of the cockpit crew will also be investigated.

Moreover, the commission will investigate if appropriate measures were taken by the airline after the crash, which includes such things as ensuring if Capital Development Authority (CDA) kept the Black Box for 24 hours after its recovery and checking for any signs of tampering.

The commission will be asked to carry out inquires at Civil Aviation Authority, CDA, Bhoja Airline, Pakistan Air Force, manufacturers of air crafts, insurance companies etc.

The commission, which will have the authority and power to call upon any person with respect to the investigation would also be asked to release a document of recommendations outlining safety measures that need to be adhered to in future by the airline.

IHC said the court will move ahead with its proceedings after the judicial commission submits its report.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja Air crash: One year on, victims’ families still seek answers</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/538345/bhoja-air-crash-one-year-on-victims-families-still-seek-answers</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/538345/bhoja-air-crash-one-year-on-victims-families-still-seek-answers#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Apr 13 05:39:09 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=538345</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Victims’ family member laments that judicial commission, formed to hold an inquiry, never met.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[One year after the deaths of 127 people onboard Bhoja Air flight 213 bound for Islamabad, relatives of the victims gathered at the National Press Club on Saturday, calling for a fresh inquiry into the crash.


Mohammad Tariq, the coordinator for the victims’ families, alleged that the Civil Aviation Authority was deliberately delaying the inquiry into the tragic incident in a bid to allow two years to pass, after which the families of victims would lose their right to demand compensation.

Colonel (retd) Shamim, a member of the victims’ families group, lamented that judicial commission was also formed to hold an inquiry into the issue, but the commission never met.

Along with the airline, he blamed the government departments which allowed a “dysfunctional and grounded” plane to fly for the tragedy.

“Not only this, the pilot was also overage and the fuel was not sufficient, while the plane was also flying below the standard altitude,” Col Shamim said.

He said only free and fair investigations into the incident could bring the answers the victims families seek.

“It is not only a matter of the 127 lives lost in the crash, but the lives of the families that were ruined,” said a man who lost his son in the incident.

The victims’ families regretted that Bhoja Air has yet to pay the announced compensation of Rs5 million to the family of each victim.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21st, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Remembering the Bhoja Air victims</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/538224/remembering-the-bhoja-air-victims</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/538224/remembering-the-bhoja-air-victims#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 20 Apr 13 18:18:59 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=538224</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Many families lost their primary breadwinners that day, but the airline has yet to own up to responsibility for that.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[There has been no closure for the families of the 121 victims of the Bhoja Air crash who are still grieving their loved ones, are still as bewildered as they were a year ago, when they lost their loved ones in the crash that took place on April 20, 2012, on a flight from Karachi to Islamabad. It came soon after Bhoja Air resumed operation after a break of over a decade. A three-member commission was set up by then prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to probe the crash but no report has been issued as yet. Meanwhile, the families of those killed have demanded that an independent commission be set up and have prepared a petition in this regard, but it is yet to be heard.

No report has as yet been prepared on the events of that day — though the Civil Aviation Authority claims that investigations are still underway, and that a report will be prepared — and it remains a mystery how Bhoja Air got its licence. Furthermore, so far, only 25 of the families of the victims have been paid compensation. Many families lost their primary breadwinners that day, but the airline has yet to own up to responsibility for that by compensating them financially.

Meanwhile, much has changed since the year gone by, with all the signs pointing to the possibility that chances of justice are slim at best. The majority stakeholder in the airline has fled Pakistan, the chief investigator has passed away, and the second most senior member of the investigation committee has retired. The grief of some of those left behind has turned to anger. And for so many others, it has becomes just another crash — perhaps, losing some of its poignancy because we are not reminded of the heartbreaking loss of life by the media. However, the people who lost their lives that fateful day must not be forgotten, and though time has passed, every effort must be made to do whatever justice can be done and finally lay to rest the ghosts of Bhoja Air B4-213.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21st, 2013. ]]>
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			<title>Bhoja crash: IHC admits plea challenging inquiry report</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/442155/bhoja-crash-ihc-admits-plea-challenging-inquiry-report</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/442155/bhoja-crash-ihc-admits-plea-challenging-inquiry-report#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 25 Sep 12 09:52:01 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=442155</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Petitioners allege that the members of the inquiry board were responsible for the crash.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Admitting a petition challenging the inquiry report in the Bhoja Air crash probe on Tuesday, the Islamabad High Court issued notices to the respondents in the case, Express News reported.

The hearing was headed by Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan.

Eight heirs of the crash victims pleaded to the court that the airline authorities were forcefully getting them to sign agreement papers pertaining to cases after handing an amount of Rs5 million to them.

They alleged that the members of the inquiry board were responsible for the crash.

The counsel of the petitioners said that the inquiry board’s report should be made public.

Justice Khan accepted the plea and issued notices to the federation, interior ministry, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Inspector General of Police (IG) Islamabad and Capital Development Authority (CDA) and sought replies.

On April 20, 2012, the Bhoja Air flight from Karachi burst into flames after coming down in fields near a village on the outskirts of capital Islamabad as it tried to land in rain and hail at the city’s international airport.]]>
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			<title>Investigation report blames pilot for Bhoja Air crash</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/402460/investigation-report-blames-pilot-for-bhoja-air-crash</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/402460/investigation-report-blames-pilot-for-bhoja-air-crash#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jul 12 13:22:34 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=402460</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Pilot was given multiple warnings about bad weather but still tried to land the plane, reveal investigations.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Initial investigations have revealed that the pilot of the Bhoja Air 737-200 aircraft – which crashed near Islamabad in April killing all 127 people onboard – was responsible for the crash, Express News reported on Monday.

According to the investigation report, the co-pilot of the plane kept telling pilot Noorullah Afridi to “go round” and “pull”, but the pilot tried landing the plane even in bad weather.

The pilot knew about the bad weather condition before the plane took off from Karachi and even saw it on the radar around 50 miles away from Islamabad, said sources.

The pilot was also given multiple warnings by the Air Control Tower regarding the weather.

As the pilot tried to land the plane, it got caught in a “downdraft” and crashed within 30-40 seconds. The plane caught fire after it crashed, added sources.

The report added that the aircraft had no technical faults.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja air crash: CAA experts invited to US for investigations</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/388408/bhoja-air-crash-caa-experts-invited-to-us-for-investigations</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/388408/bhoja-air-crash-caa-experts-invited-to-us-for-investigations#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jun 12 04:11:07 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=388408</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Officials say US experts, after retrieving information from the plane’s black box, handed the findings to CAA.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) experts, who were visiting Pakistan to assist CAA officials investigating the April 20 crash of Bhoja Air Flight 213, asked Pakistani investigators to travel to the US with the plane’s cockpit voice recorder and Flight Data Record for analysis. 


The NTSB team, on a five-day visit to Pakistan, left for the US on Sunday, said an official statement issued by US Embassy in Pakistan. Officials associated with the investigators said the US experts, after retrieving information from the plane’s black box, handed the findings to CAA.

These findings show that airport officials did not inform the pilot of the aircraft’s low altitude which caused it to crash, said an official.  As the plane approached Benazir International Airport for landing, its altitude was an alarming 2000 feet compared to the 2800 feet considered safe for landing, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Precautionary measures: CAA temporarily suspends Bhoja Air operations</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/386091/precautionary-measures-caa-temporarily-suspends-bhoja-air-operations</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/386091/precautionary-measures-caa-temporarily-suspends-bhoja-air-operations#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 30 May 12 04:20:06 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.zulfiqar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=386091</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The airline is currently operating with only one aircraft.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Tuesday temporarily suspended the operations of a privately-owned airline, Bhoja Air on the directions of the defence ministry.


The move came a day before the Peshawar High Court takes up the cases of the deadly crashes of Airblue and Bhoja Air flights in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Initially, Bhoja Air had four aircraft of which, one crashed in April this year, one was grounded earlier when an inspection team found it to be out of order and one is currently under inspection, CAA spokesperson Pervez George told The Express Tribune. “Now, Bhoja Air is left with one aircraft,” George said, adding that the CAA suspended the airline’s operations in public interest.

Another top official of the CAA also confirmed to The Express Tribune that the authority’s Air Transport Wing conveyed the decision to Bhoja Air in a letter on Monday. “The airline should have been grounded immediately after the crash, last month,” he added.

Neither a show-cause notice was issued to Bhoja Air nor was a personal hearing offered by the CAA prior to suspending their operations, the official said.

According to CAA and international aviation rules, it is mandatory to suspend operations of an airline operating with less than three state-of-the-art aircraft.

To a question, the official said that suspension is not permanent because Bhoja Air, according to reports, was getting two more aircraft, in which case the suspension order will be set aside automatically.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Aircraft safety: Experts call for independent inquiry into Bhoja Air crash</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/385878/aircraft-safety-experts-call-for-independent-inquiry-into-bhoja-air-crash</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/385878/aircraft-safety-experts-call-for-independent-inquiry-into-bhoja-air-crash#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 30 May 12 00:30:09 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=385878</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Don’t allow Boeing anywhere near the evidence, they caution.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Society of Air Safety Investigators (SASI) Pakistan has expressed serious concern over the ongoing investigation into the Bhoja Air crash in which 127 people lost their lives.


The investigation being carried out by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) cannot be impartial as it is responsible for safety of aircraft using the country’s airspace, said Syed Naseem Ahmed, the president of SASI Pakistan on Tuesday.

“Independent experts should be made part of the investigations,” he said. “They don’t necessarily have to be from SASI Pakistan but qualified people with experience in dealing with aircraft crashes.”

SASI Pakistan has recently been established as an NGO to lobby for better safety of the aircraft flying in the country. It has five members who are affiliated with the International Society of Air Safety Investigators.

Ahmed said recent air crashes have worsened Pakistan’s air safety record. “We need to make sure that recommendations made by the investigators are implemented.”

Without naming anyone, he said that no one was qualified in the CAA team investigating the causes of Bhoja Air’s Boeing 737-200 crash.

Ahmed was flanked by about half a dozen families of the passengers who lost their lives.

FIR

Criminal charges against Arshad Jalil, the managing director of Bhoja Air, will further complicate matters for the families and won’t assist the investigation, Ahmed said.

Jalil, who also owns a majority stake in the airline, is refusing to come back to Pakistan, fearing arrest as a first information report (FIR) has been registered against him.

Boeing 

SASI Pakistan’s general secretary Air Commodore (retd) Rasheed Ahmed Bhatti said that Boeing officials should not be allowed to examine the evidence.

“Boeing will always try to keep its name away from the crash,” he said. “It is very easy to manipulate the evidence. They should not be made part of the investigation.”

Legal Adviser for SASI Pakistan Dr Abdul Razzaq said families were entitled to a minimum compensation of Rs5 million. “This amount is the no-fault liability, which an airline has to pay in any case,” he said, citing the Carriage by Air Act 2012. The compensation does not come with any strings attach, he said. “Bhoja Air cannot force any family to sign pledges that they won’t sue the airline, aircraft manufacturer or the suppliers for more compensation.”

Unfortunately, he said, Pakistan has yet to set a precedent where a court has awarded anyone compensation according to the worth of the individual as deemed fit by the family.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Defence Ministry suspends Bhoja Air operations</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/385861/defence-ministry-suspends-bhoja-air-operations</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/385861/defence-ministry-suspends-bhoja-air-operations#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 29 May 12 16:49:15 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=385861</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[CAA says operations suspended till Bhoja Air acquires at least three aircrafts for domestic operations.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Defence Ministry on Tuesday suspended flights of Bhoja Air, a little over a month after one of its passenger planes crashed near Islamabad, killing all 127 people on board.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said that the airline had been reduced to just one aircraft, below the minimum requirement, after one of its remaining two planes developed a fault. The Defence Ministry ordered a halt to operations.

“Bhoja Air’s operations have been suspended until it acquires at least three aircrafts for domestic operations,” CAA spokesman Pervez George told AFP.

Nobody from the airline was immediately available to comment.

A Bhoja Air Boeing 737 came down in fields near Islamabad on April 20 killing all 127 people on board.

In July 2010 an Airbus jet operated by Airblue crashed into the Margalla hills overlooking Islamabad while coming in to land after a flight from Karachi, killing 152 people in the worst air disaster ever on Pakistani soil.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja Air crash: Decoded black box returns from US</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/384075/bhoja-air-crash-decoded-black-box-returns-from-us</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/384075/bhoja-air-crash-decoded-black-box-returns-from-us#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 25 May 12 10:15:49 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=384075</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Investigation team begins transcribing pilot, co-pilot's conversation.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The black box of the Bhoja Air plane which crashed last month, killing all 127 people on board, has returned to Pakistan from the US after being decoded, Express News reported on Friday.

A team, under Senior Investigation Officer Mujahid Islam, has begun transcribing the conversation held between the pilot and the co-pilot of the Boeing 737-200 aircraft before it crashed.

The statements of Mukhtar, an on-duty worker at the Radar at the time of the crash, have also been recorded.

Initial investigations had revealed that the plane was at a height of 2,000 feet instead of 2,800 feet at the time of landing.

It is being investigated why Mukhtar did not inform the pilot regarding the plane’s height and its change in direction, and why did he not transfer the information to the Air Traffic Control tower.

The Bhoja Air flight from Karachi had burst into flames after coming down in fields near a village on the outskirts of Islamabad as it tried to land in rain and hail at the city’s international airport on April 20, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Seeking closure: Victims’ families await justice, compensation</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/381522/seeking-closure-victims%e2%80%99-families-await-justice-compensation</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/381522/seeking-closure-victims%e2%80%99-families-await-justice-compensation#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 20 May 12 04:49:16 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.zulfiqar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=381522</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Remind the premier of his promise to provide compensation in 30 days.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Families of Bhoja Air crash victims reminded Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani the promise he made the day after the crash – that the families will be compensated within a month.


“The prime minister promised that the airline will pay interim compensation of Rs5 million in 30 days; unfortunately neither any government official nor the airline’s representatives have approached us even for condolence,” said Sardar Kinaf, who lost three family members in the crash, at a press conference here on Saturday.

Families of the crash victims also demanded that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) disclose the cause of the accident, since the black box of the plane has been decoded.

Shortly after the crash, officials concerned blamed bad weather; but a team of the CAA’s investigation board, headed by Mujahid Islam, is currently investigating it.

Islam was also a member of the investigation team, which prepared an investigation report of the Airblue crash. The report, however, was rejected by the Peshawar High Court.

Solidarity

Families of AirBlue crash victims were also present at the press conference, to express solidarity with Bhoja crash victims’ families.

Col (retd) Shamim Sheikh from the AirBlue Crash Affectees Group (ACAG) said that the Bhoja Air crash could have been avoided if orders of the Peshawar High Court in the AirBlue case were implemented in letter and spirit.

“We realise what will happen to Bhoja Air crash victims’ families; therefore, we will always be standing with them,” Sheikh said.

He demanded the enforcement of the Montreal Convention in Pakistan, signed in 1999, for ensuring fair compensation to families of air crash victims.

“The government should announce appropriate compensation for the Bhoja Air crash victims’ families, as was done in the case of AirBlue” said Coordinator ACAG Zulfiqar.

Authorities should nominate judicial officials in Karachi and Islamabad to expedite the issuing of succession certificates to victims’ families, he said, adding that Bhoja Air should be compelled to pay the first tier compensation of Rs5 million to all families immediately.

He also demanded that both AirBlue and Bhoja Air should be grounded till the finalisation of investigation reports of the two crashes.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>A month on, little progress on Bhoja crash</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/381518/a-month-on-little-progress-on-bhoja-crash</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/381518/a-month-on-little-progress-on-bhoja-crash#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 20 May 12 04:44:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saad.hasan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=381518</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Investigation is pending, no one charged, no arrests made, no official terminated.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[It has been one month since Bhoja Air’s 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 Air’s 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 it’s proven that the airline or any of its staff was responsible for the crash, Bhoja Air’s liability becomes unlimited – the worth of the passengers is then decided by the court.

That is exactly what happened in case of Air Blue’s 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 airline’s 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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			<title>April 20 crash: Bhoja Air announces compensation of Rs500,000</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/372406/april-20-crash-bhoja-air-announces-compensation-of-rs500000</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/372406/april-20-crash-bhoja-air-announces-compensation-of-rs500000#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 01 May 12 03:49:11 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=372406</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Heirs to prove relationship by submitting succession certificates obtained from courts after long, cumbersome process.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Bhoja Air on Monday announced it would pay Rs0.5million as initial compensation to each family of the 127 people who died in the April 20 plane crash.


But legal heirs would have to prove their relationship by submitting succession certificates, a document that is obtained from courts after a long and cumbersome process.

The airline said there was no other way to verify legal heirs. “In the case of Air Blue crash, there were a lot of disputes as many people claiming to be relatives came forward for the compensation,” said the airlines spokesman Jasir Abro. A statement issued by the airline said: “ Bhoja Air assures the nation that it is here to stay and will facilitate its future passengers and families of the victims on the ill-fated Flight B4213 of April 20, 2012 in every possible way.”

Abro did not say how much the total insurance cover of the aircraft was. “We are calculating the insurance liability,” he said.

Bhoja’s flight B4 213 crashed a few minutes before it was to land in Islamabad. It flew from Karachi.

Under the Carriage by Air Act of 2012, the airline has to pay a minimum compensation of Rs5 million to each of the affected families in any case.

Legal experts, however, say insurance companies can pay much more than that. Airlines don’t disclose the entire insurance coverage.

Around 35 families who lost their loved ones in the Air Blue plane crash in 2010 have decided to move court for compensation that runs into millions of dollars, according to one of the lawyers.

Advocate Omer Farooq Adam said an airline’s liability is unlimited if it is proved that the plane had some problem or it crashed due to the pilot’s error.

Bhoja Air’s aircraft was insured by Reliance Insurance, which in turn reinsured the risk with a Russian company.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja announces Rs0.5million initial compensation for heirs of crash victims</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/372174/bhoja-announces-rs0-5million-initial-compensation-for-heirs-of-crash-victims</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/372174/bhoja-announces-rs0-5million-initial-compensation-for-heirs-of-crash-victims#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 30 Apr 12 16:03:16 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[press.release]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=372174</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Initial compensation will be disbursed to heirs after they present legal heir-ship, nomination certificates.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[After their maiden flight from Karachi to Islamabad, B4-213 crashed just before it was due to land on April 20, Bhoja Air has announced initial compensation of Rs500,000 for the legal heirs of the victims.

In an official statement released on Monday, the private airline said that the compensation will be given to heirs after they produced their legal heir-ship certificates and the nomination certificate.

It added that the heirs will then be paid an initial amount of Rs500,000, which will be deducted from the final settlement, to be ascertained as per law.

Bhoja Air can be contacted on 111-111-265 for any further queries regarding the compensation.

Earlier, talking to The Express Tribune, aviation lawyers said that under the Carriage by Air Act of 2012, the families of the Bhoja Air crash victims are entitled to at least Rs5 million in compensation.

Bhoja Air flights to resume after May 4 

The statement added that despite the incident, Bhoja Air has continued its daily flight operations from Karachi to Lahore and back. It will resume Islamabad and Multan flights after May 4, 2012.

It added that all offices of the airline remained fully functional.]]>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Bhoja Air crash: Plane's debris to be collected today</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/371691/bhoja-air-crash-planes-debris-collection-to-begin-today</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/371691/bhoja-air-crash-planes-debris-collection-to-begin-today#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 29 Apr 12 06:51:11 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=371691</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Heirs of plane crash victims will be paid insurance money within two week's time.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The collection of debris of the Bhoja Air plane that crashed killing all 127 people on board will begin today (Sunday), Express News reported.

The heirs of the plane crash victims will be paid insurance money within two week's time.

The passenger airliner crashed near Islamabad on April 20, 2012, while trying to land during a thunderstorm.

The Bhoja Air flight from Karachi burst into flames after coming down in fields near a village on the outskirts of capital Islamabad as it tried to land in rain and hail at the city’s international airport.

The Boeing 737-200 was carrying 121 passengers, including 11 children, as well as six crew members.]]>
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				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/371691-insideout-1335681916/371691-insideout-1335681916.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Crash investigations: Custody fight emerges over Bhoja Air wreckage</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/371559/crash-investigations-custody-fight-emerges-over-bhoja-air-wreckage</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/371559/crash-investigations-custody-fight-emerges-over-bhoja-air-wreckage#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 29 Apr 12 04:24:07 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mudassir.raja]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=371559</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[CAA moves court to gain custody of the aircraft debris.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[In order to continue investigations into the Bhoja Air crash, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) moved a court to get custody of the wreckage of the plane.


The CAA’s director-general moved the magistrate’s court on Saturday to seek possession of the wreckage after local police registered a criminal case pertaining to the crash.

In the FIR registered at the station, the Koral police cited Farooq Bhoja as responsible for the crash and resultant deaths.

Under criminal procedure law, after a case is registered, the wreckage becomes the property of the police and should, therefore, technically remain in its custody.

The CAA, however, has asked for the legal custody of the wreckage citing its 1994 aviation rules that allow the authority to carry out investigations and take into custody the wreckage of any plane after it crashes.

Senior legal officer of the CAA, Obaidur Rehman Abbasi, will have to file an affidavit assuring the court that the wreckage would be returned to the Koral police for their own investigation whenever they demand it.

Legal experts and CAA officials said that the requirement for moving a court of law was unprecedented as legal custody was not required for the wreckage of the Airblue plane crash in 2010.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Sajid Bashir, a former legal director of the CAA, said there is a difference between a simple roadside accident and an air crash. Under aviation rules, only the CAA has the jurisdiction to investigate an air crash. The FIR by the Islamabad police seems to have been misplaced, Bashir, who is now a practicing lawyer, added.

He said that an independent and neutral inquiry was needed to determine causes of the crash and the CAA was legally responsible and technically qualified to look into the matter.

A CAA official, on condition of anonymity, said the police were not competent to reach any conclusion regarding the crash or to fix penal liability. The official said that all crashes were reported to the police mainly by passengers or their families to claim financial compensation.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>National Assembly session: Govt, opposition squabble over Bhoja Air crash probe</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/370008/national-assembly-session-govt-opposition-squabble-over-bhoja-air-crash-probe</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/370008/national-assembly-session-govt-opposition-squabble-over-bhoja-air-crash-probe#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 26 Apr 12 04:24:39 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qamar.zaman]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=370008</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PML-N stages walkout as Nisar expresses concern over validity of commission.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[As families of the Bhoja Air plane crash victims mourn their loved ones, the government and opposition continue to squabble over a commission set up to probe the crash.


While the government insisted in the National Assembly on Wednesday that the commission, announced by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, fulfils the criteria for being a judicial body, the opposition expressed scepticism over its composition.

The bickering between the government and the opposition culminated in an unannounced boycott by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) after Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira resorted to personal attacks.

After the departure of PML-N, Religious Affairs Minister Syed Khursheed Shah invited the opposition to suggest names of commission members even if they were sitting judges, and said that the government was ready to address the issue and would have no objection to setting up a commission with consensus.

Earlier, Prime Minister Gilani, who attended the proceedings for a brief period, said that his decision was taken in the light of international practice while responding to the opposition’s concerns.

“I was asked by the families of victims (during a visit to the hospital) for an inquiry,” the premier said, and added “we do not need to be apologetic over the issue.”

Later on Law Minister Farooq H Naek justified the commission was judicial by citing the Commission Act and the integrity of its members, saying, “Every judge has taken oath under the PCO at some point.”

In addition, he said, the families of victims had not raised any objection over the commission’s composition and there should be no political point scoring over the issue.

But the justification could not satisfy the opposition leader who once again said: “The so-called commission cannot be termed a judicial commission since it has been set up to cover up the facts of the crash.”

To counter the law minister, Nisar said that the judges nominated for the commission had faced contempt of court earlier. He also questioned the government over the AirBlue plane crash report, saying it had not been released.

“We will not participate in the debate if you are not ready to constitute a national commission with consensus,” Nisar warned. He also suggested that a timeframe be defined for the investigation and relatives of victims be taken into confidence.

In response, Kaira said the opposition had indulged in point scoring over the issue. “We are not here to please anyone,” he said rejecting the opposition’s proposal of a new commission, adding that “It was a purely technical job and a timeline cannot be set for it.”

The moment he took his seat, Chaudhry Nisar rose up and said the information minister was justifying his newly-attained portfolio but “we are not here to attend lectures.”

Though Khursheed Shah and others tried to pacify Kaira, the infuriated information minister then rose immediately himself, reciprocating: “I am well aware about the conduct of every member of the opposition and how they play politics.” He said Nisar’s comments against him were “disgusting”.

In the meanwhile, the opposition boycotted the proceedings without any announcement.

Earlier, the opposition and government both tried to take credit for initiating debate over the issue in the lower house, which came into session without having a Business Advisory Committee Meeting (during which the agenda of the house is set). With no agenda set, the proceedings started with a walkout by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) which insisted on a debate instead of the question hour.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Insurance compensation: Bhoja Air finds itself in a tough spot</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/369975/insurance-compensation-bhoja-air-finds-itself-in-a-tough-spot</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/369975/insurance-compensation-bhoja-air-finds-itself-in-a-tough-spot#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 26 Apr 12 00:58:05 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saad.hasan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=369975</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Carrier insurer Reliance Insurance is one of the smallest insurance companies in this field.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[While the law entitles the families of the victims of the Bhoja Air crash to significant compensation, the airline’s decision to go for a cheaper insurance option may make extracting that money from the airline difficult.


Under the Carriage by Air Act of 2012, the families of the Bhoja Air crash victims are entitled to at least Rs5 million in compensation, say aviation lawyers. Yet doubts are beginning to emerge over the ability of the airline’s insurer – Reliance Insurance Company – to pay out the damages that Bhoja may eventually owe.

Reliance Insurance is one of the smallest insurance companies in the country, with just over Rs1 billion in assets under management. Even at the minimum Rs5 million per passenger, paying out such a compensation would wipe out the company’s balance sheet.

Luckily for Reliance, it bought reinsurance on its risk exposure to Bhoja Air from the Russian company Ingosstrakh Insurance. Buying reinsurance is a common way for insurance companies to prevent themselves from going bankrupt over disasters that are too big for their own balance sheets.

Reliance’s decision to go to a Russian firm and not a British one, however, is raising eyebrows. London is the world’s largest insurance market and Pakistani insurers typically get their reinsurance cover from Lloyd’s of London, an insurance market that provides the depth and liquidity to be able to rapidly cover large losses.

“It is not normal to get the reinsurance from the Russian market. All the good airlines cover their risk in the London reinsurance market,” said one official who has closely worked with insurance settlements following the Air Blue plane crash in 2010.

Neither Reliance Insurance Chairman Ismail Zakaria nor Managing Director Razak Ahmed were available for comment, despite repeated attempts to contact them by The Express Tribune. Bhoja Air spokesperson Jasir Abro declined to comment.

AirBlue’s insurance cover

When AirBlue’s Airbus-321 crashed in 2010, killing all 158 people onboard, many people believed it was the end for private airliner. But within days, the airline was paying Rs500,000 to each traumatized family. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a director, says it was possible only because of the good insurance cover.

“Our reinsurers had created a fund of $100 million within 12 hours of the crash,” he said. “We had pretty good cover. Unfortunately, the law was really weak then but still we had decided from the start to compensate the families with maximum amount.”

That insurance cover came with a cost as AirBlue was paying between $3 million to $4 million in insurance premiums every year, said Abbasi.

The insurer behind Air Blue was EFU General Insurance, which has assets in excess of Rs24 billion. EFU had covered itself against such an eventuality and reinsured the risk at Lloyd’s.

Pakre’s denial of cover

Before passing on the risk to any international reinsurer, all local insurance companies are required to seek coverage of at least 5% of the risk from the state-run Pakistan Reinsurance Company (PRC).

In Bhoja’s case, PRC simply declined to take the risk. “There was too much risk involved in it,” said Fida Hussain Samoo, executive director at PRC. “We decided not to take any exposure in the reinsurance of the Bhoja’s aircraft.”

The crash of Air Blue’s aircraft was a bitter lesson for the company when it comes to insuring aircraft, he said. “We were really cautious.”

Another catch 

For AirBlue, EFU had covered 4% of the risk on its own and sold the rest to the reinsurer. But, according to industry sources, Reliance Insurance has not taken any exposure on its books.

“RICL has worked as a fronting company, which basically takes a business to reinsurer,” said an insurance industry veteran. “But the catch is that if the reinsurer backs off for any reason then it is RICL which is liable to pay for the damages.”

Bhoja’s aircraft was old. And the older the aircraft, the higher the risk premium, he said. “Obviously, a company like EFU was expensive than RICL for the airline.”

Unlimited

Experts say there is no limit to an airline’s liability when a plane goes down.

“There is no limit as such. You can’t say that a plane has been covered under a $5 million or $50 million insurance,” said the industry official. “No insurance company ever says what the maximum cover is for a risk and how much it can get from international reinsurance market.”

The insurance companies will always try to save the money, he said. “They will use the law as a tool to pay just Rs5 million whereas they can be made to pay Rs10 million easily.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>2010 Airblue crash: Court temporarily suspends CAA chief</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/370057/2010-airblue-crash-court-temporarily-suspends-caa-chief</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/370057/2010-airblue-crash-court-temporarily-suspends-caa-chief#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 26 Apr 12 00:40:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[umer.farooq]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=370057</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PHC serves contempt notices to Nadeem Khan Yousafzai and Nargis Sethi.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[It seems that the chief of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the country’s aviation regulator, had it coming after two horrific plane crashes in as many years that have collectively killed 279 people.


A fiery Peshawar High Court on Wednesday – as it resumed the hearing into the 2010 Airblue crash case – issued stern directives to the government to immediately suspend CAA Director-General Nadeem Khan Yousafzai until, in accordance with an earlier court order, an inquiry is completed by international experts into the airworthiness of domestic passenger aircraft as well as the probe into the recent Bhoja Air crash.

The court also served him a contempt of court notice, along with Defence and Cabinet Secretary Nargis Sethi, ordering them to appear in person on May 30 for ‘violating writ of the court’.

The PHC also issued a show-cause notice to Bhoja Air Managing Director Arshad Jalil and to the airline’s licencing authority.

On a writ petition, filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Marvi Memon, PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan was informed that the court orders to engage international experts to examine the airworthiness of aircraft of all domestic airlines, including state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), had been ignored.

“Since the order, dated January 19, 2012, no examination was conducted. If the court verdict had been respected, the [recent] Bhoja Air crash could have been averted,” Umer Farooq Aadam, counsel for families of Airblue crash victims, said.

“From factual circumstances available on record, we are of the view that the government of Pakistan’s defence secretary and the CAA DG appear to have committed contempt of court. Therefore, under Section 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003, [they] shall submit their replies,” the order read.

CAA’s initial defence 

Obaidur Rehman Abbasi, CAA’s senior legal officer, told the court that a letter had been written to Mukhtar Awan, who represents Asia at the International Civil Aviation Organisation Headquarters in Montreal, Canada. “His reply has been received and they will soon be sending their experts. However, all aircraft have been examined by local experts.”

He reiterated that the CAA would not conceal facts from the court and could even produce audio records of the Airblue flight from its takeoff to its crash.

Afnan Kundi, attorney for the defence ministry which is the single largest shareholder in PIA, confirmed that ICAO’s reply had been received on April 12.

Dissatisfied still, Justice Khan said that the defence ministry took around two months to write to the ICAO which shows that the court orders were defied and citizens were treated as ‘Category C’ human beings. “The delay [in investigating the Airblue crash] was caused not only due to procedural impediments but also due to criminal negligence.”

Criticising Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, the chief justice said that he should decide whether his position or the safety of citizens was more important to him.

AirBlue compensation

Meanwhile, an assistant to Airblue’s counsel Wasim Sajjad told the court that 107 of the 152 affected families had been compensated. He claimed that Rs5.5million had been given to the legal heirs.

“Thirty-four families are under litigation, two are unwilling to take the amount and two others cannot be compensated because of a personal dispute,” he said. No explanation was given for the remaining seven families. The chief justice remarked that the responsible Airblue persons should go door to door, apologise and present cross-cheques.

The court then gave Airblue 20 days to compensate all heirs, saying that in the event that the airline fails to comply with the order, the court will ask the federal government to suspend its activities and airport to withdraw all facilities to the airline.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2012.]]>
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				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/370057-airbluecrashreuters-1335400238/370057-airbluecrashreuters-1335400238.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
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			<title>A few good men</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/369856/a-few-good-men</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/369856/a-few-good-men#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 25 Apr 12 18:55:58 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[salman.masood]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=369856</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The CAA is a choice posting, especially for three-star PAF officers after they retire.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A deluge of tragedies has struck the country in recent times; the Bhoja Air crash being the latest. An investigation has been started and if one goes by experience and history, the inquiry will also come to naught.

I was appalled after watching the press briefing given by the director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on April 23. The whole focus of the CAA director-general’s (DG) maiden press conference seemed to be not to brief the journalists assembled on the tragic Bhoja Air crash, but rather to taunt/mock them for their lack of aviation knowledge and for not being well versed in the intricacies and technicalities of aircraft and how they fly.

The fact of the matter is that an ordinary passenger is not concerned about the mumbo jumbo of aviation. And the same logic applies to a journalist, in that a reporter who covers aviation does not necessarily have to be an expert on it (of course, over time he can acquire extensive knowledge on it and so on). The only — and foremost — concern of an ordinary traveller is to reach his or her destination safe and sound.

In case of an accident, it is the right of journalists — on behalf of the general public — to ask questions as to what went wrong. Instead of mocking the layman for not being aware of unnecessary/extraneous information, the DG should be ensuring that the CAA is run in an effective, efficient and transparent manner. Clearly, in the manner that the press conference was conducted, this was not something that the senior official had realised.

When the incumbent DG was appointed to his post, there were several reports in the press criticising this decision of the prime minister, the argument being that merit was apparently not the deciding factor. Prior to being head of the CAA, he was head of the PIA for a brief period and that appointment also evoked protests from concerned quarters.

That said, the purpose here is to comment on the press briefing that was supposed to be on the Bhoja Air crash but rather turned out to be a tirade on the media in general. Rather than work for the betterment of their respective organisations, senior officials and state functionaries seem more concerned with putting the media down or with self-aggrandisement.

After the Airblue crash, the CAA should have taken it upon itself to reform and regulate the aviation industry in an effective, efficient and transparent manner. Also, the Airblue investigation report should have been made public, so that ordinary people would know that, perhaps some lessons were learned and further tragedies minimised.

The only change that one hears of is of the director-generals at the top. And here, too, there is an explanation of sorts. The CAA is a choice posting, especially for three-star PAF officers after they retire. Before the incumbent director-general, a retired air marshal headed the organisation. An English newspaper reported last week that he did what he could to expedite the NOC that was needed by Bhoja Air to resume operations.

But what is even more unfortunate is that such officers — especially if they are former generals or their equivalent in the air force or navy — get away with their alleged excesses and violations. Accountability is a visitor that never knocks at their doors. Instead, such people keep getting one cushy job after another.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Tragedy and our assorted morons</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/369275/tragedy-and-our-assorted-morons</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/369275/tragedy-and-our-assorted-morons#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 24 Apr 12 18:04:06 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Ejaz Haider]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=369275</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[First to arrive on the scene, metaphorically, were Twitter experts. Next were moronic TV reporters.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[What do we do when something untoward happens, which is most of the times? We “vow” to investigate it, to get to the bottom of it, take corrective measures. Except every time we try to get to the bottom of something, we find ourselves falling headlong, like Milton’s bad angels, into a bottomless perdition.

Take the current aviation tragedy. Here’s how we have gone about it.

First to arrive on the scene, metaphorically speaking, were Twitter aviation experts. It’s a great medium where everyone seems to be brimming with knowledge about everything, from agriculture to nuclear strategy to, in this case, an aviation tragedy.

It is of course a minor irritant that most of these aviation experts are as knowledgeable about flying as Huckleberry Finn would be about particle physics. But since life is all about being spirited and character is not the same thing as 140 characters, most would not put up to be put down even if someone could, in theory, encapsulate the entire cumulative knowledge of aviation and shove it down their throats.

In this, dear reader, and if you were to bear with me, they remind me of Shadwell, the subject of Dryden’s Mac Flecknoe and one who is ready to “wage immortal war with wit”!

Says Flecknoe, King of Nonsense: Shadwell alone, of all my sons, is he/Who stands confirm'd in full stupidity. /The rest to some faint meaning make pretence,/But Shadwell never deviates into sense./Some beams of wit on other souls may fall,/Strike through and make a lucid interval;/But Shadwell's genuine night admits no ray,/His rising fogs prevail upon the day...

Allah be praised!

Next to come were TV reporters. As I wrote many years ago, “TV is the new god in Pakistan, the camera its thunderbolt”. But this god doesn’t sit atop Mount Olympus, it resides in Hades and reminds me of what disgraced US president Richard Nixon once said about the media. “People in the media say they must look at the president with a microscope. Now, I don’t mind a microscope, but boy, when they use a proctoscope, that’s going too far.”

Nothing and no one is spared. Forget the living, not even burning corpses are spared. Add to this the very impressive IQ of these monkeys and you would have Comedy Central at its best if the situation in which they appear, jumping up and down, were not so tragic and grotesque.

Take this question. X is lying in hospital, injured, having just survived a bomb blast: “What did you feel when it happened?” Here’s another: X’s loved one has just died in a crash. The genius reporter asks: “How do you feel?”

I am still waiting for someone to kick one of them in the short and curly and then ask how he felt. To be honest I have some other suggestions too but they fall in the category of the unmentionable and I don’t want my editor, a rather mild gentleman, to fall off his chair.

Meanwhile, we have a problem. One newspaper congratulated its TV channel for being the first to break the story of the crash. How long before such morbid sense of competition will get someone to actually arrange a tragedy to be the first to report it?

To be fair this morbidity is not confined to the Pakistani media, more appropriately TV channels. Most are familiar with Evelyn Waugh’s great work, Scoop, which criticised and satirised Fleet Street. One of the themes of Waugh’s satire was — and remains true to wit — that when not much is happening, the media would try to make something happen to get a sizzling copy across. Lords Copper and Zinc of Daily Beast and Daily Brute become, in this scenario, archetypes of what we have in today’s world, the owners and publishers of media houses. By the same token we have spineless editors like Daily Beast’s Mr Salter who can never say yes or no but will use phrases like “Definitely, Lord Copper” and “Up to a point, Lord Copper”.

The tail, going by the film Wag the Dog, begins to wag the dog when it gets smarter than the dog.

Finally, we have the government. The best depiction of its efficiency and priorities is the story about the chairman of Islamabad’s Capital Development Authority, who took the blackbox and cockpit voice recorder home so he could present the two things, reports suggest, at a press conference. And pray, what the hell has the CDA chairman got to do with an air crash investigation? Why was the site not immediately cordoned off? Why were media people and others not kept off the site, which should only be accessed by authorised personnel? Footage shows people going to the site and walking in the debris as if it’s a theme park. And as one friend, an exceptional reporter, said to me: “I can bet you a month's salary whatever could be carried away easily has ended up with Raja Bazaar's kabariyas.”

One moronic reporter was reporting the “fact” that the debris hadn’t been cleaned and there was the danger of an epidemic breaking out. His sources: his own genius and a few SOTs of illiterate dwellers. He didn’t realise that until all evidence is collected from the site, there can be no cleaning up. Of course what is required but hasn’t been done by the authorities is to cordon off the area and not allow anyone to get in. Instead, we have unauthorised people loitering about and reporters going around with cameras and demanding of the rescue teams why this or that was not being done.

Much else can be said and should be about how easy it is in fact to be efficient but that requires a separate treatment. For now, between the twitting twitterati, illiterate people, a cannibalistic media and an utterly inefficient government, we have just enacted another comedy of the grotesque.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Media is your mirror, remember?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/369246/media-is-your-mirror-remember</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/369246/media-is-your-mirror-remember#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 24 Apr 12 17:10:11 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[farrukh.khan.pitafi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=369246</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Thank you for pointing out mistakes, we will do away with them, but will our friends, killed in line of duty, return?]]>
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				<![CDATA[The day Bhoja Air’s plane crashed, so did common sense. Amazingly, the petulance of many people that was evident on the social media, revolved around the television coverage of the debacle, and not the tragedy itself. Outrage and disbelief over the fact that such a crash could happen so soon after the Airblue tragedy, had caused the deaths of so many innocent lives and had happened so close to a residential area, was lost somewhere. The lugubrious environment was perforated by the scathing criticism of the media. The gist of the debate was that the media displayed insensitivity by showing the charred remains of the victims’ bodies and thrust microphones into the faces of their grieving family members. At times, it felt as if some friends were using the tragic incident to advocate the cause of increased media control, if not outright censorship.

Since then, I have constantly kept an eye out for the proverbial smoking gun: footage that can substantiate the claims made against the media, particularly the former claim regarding the showing of the remains of the victims’ bodies. I have not come across any such footage. On the off chance that something might have slipped my attention, I would remind the readers that in the past I have been overtly critical of the unprofessionalism manifested by the media from time to time. Nor do I believe that this occupation is beyond accountability. But let us see if the criticism directed at the media actually holds water.

Frankly, this sudden weariness that people have displayed towards the media is beyond me. People are miffed at the media for different reasons. Some are genuinely dismayed at our failures and bad practices, which are exceptions that do not make a rule. Others have their own reasons. Deep state, for instance, is usually miffed because journalists often refuse to use words like ‘national interest’ to protect the interests of a few. Governments have been critical of the media because it often exposes their corruption and ineptness. The obscurantist elements are often ready to excommunicate us because we do not accept their perversion of faith. And the list goes on.

For some reason, people forget their own responsibility and that of the state. For the media, a viewer plays the role of a voter. You can make or break me by the push of a button, make us all vanish at will. That is, if you are not afraid of democracy. The state that has suddenly woken up to show concern for developing a code of ethics for the media, turned a blind eye when TV channels were operating without elaborate organograms, professional editors or equitable salaries for their employees. The competition commission that the media fought so hard for went into deep slumber when the rating system for TV channels became a virtual monopoly causing the infant deaths of two brilliant English news channels and the abortion of a third.

I ask you to consider what you ask media personnel to do every day: go out and risk your lives for us, again and again, and yet again. Meanwhile, if you die in the process, we won’t shed even a tear for you, but if you make an honest mistake, we will not spare you. Does the public honestly have any idea how many of our colleagues die in poverty and squalor, jobless or underemployed? Thank you for pointing out our mistakes, we will do away with them, but will our friends ever return?

Those who call today’s media lopsided, or even a threat to democracy, should remember that media is not just a group of privileged talk show hosts. Media personnel, including the groups you criticise, have made sacrifices for democracy. A big ‘yes’ to a voluntary code of ethics and development of best practices, including having media ombudsmen, but an equally big ‘no’ to censorship and undue cynicism.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja crash: ‘Investigations may take up to 9 months’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/369215/bhoja-crash-%e2%80%98investigations-may-take-up-to-9-months%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/369215/bhoja-crash-%e2%80%98investigations-may-take-up-to-9-months%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 24 Apr 12 13:34:15 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=369215</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Sources claim CDA officials also included in investigation, kept voice recorder in custody for 45 hours.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Group Captain Mujahidul Islam, head of the committee investigating the Bhoja Air crash, said that all evidence has been collected from the crash site and the investigation may take up to nine months to complete.

Islam said that the debris of the plane will be reassembled, while the data recorder will be examined with the help of a US team.

Sources told Express News on Tuesday that some officials of Capital Development Authority (CDA) were also included in the investigation of the air crash.

Some CDA officials had allegedly kept the aircraft’s voice recorder and data recorder in their custody for 45 hours.

The passenger flight travelling from Karachi to Islamabad carrying 121 passengers and six crew members came hurtling down towards the outskirts of Rawalpindi at 6:46pm on Friday evening.

Among the passengers were five infants and six children. There were no survivors.

A judicial commission was formed by the government to investigate into the incident.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja Air tragedy: CDA chairman flies to China after being booked</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/369094/bhoja-air-tragedy-cda-chairman-flies-to-china-after-being-booked</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/369094/bhoja-air-tragedy-cda-chairman-flies-to-china-after-being-booked#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 24 Apr 12 03:53:06 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zahid.gishkori]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=369094</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Farkhand Iqbal kept the black box in his house for 24 hours without legal authority.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[In a bizarre chain of events following the Bhoja Air crash, the chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) flew to China hours after being booked by the Capital police for illegally keeping both the black box and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) at his “home for 24 hours”.


Farkhand Iqbal – who spearheaded the rescue operation – was booked after the authorities found that he had taken the black box and CVR of the crashed plane to his house and planned to present them to the investigation team during a press conference, sources in Islamabad Capital Administration (ICT) revealed.

“The CDA chairman has gone to China,” confirmed Ramzan Sajid, CDA’s spokesperson. Sources said the trip had been scheduled a month before in connection with a conference.

International civil aviation rules stipulate that the black box and CVR of crashed flights must be preserved in a dry container to secure the data from possible moisture.

Unaware of the finer points governing aviation rules, the CDA chairman took both the flight recorders of the crashed plane – which killed all the 127 people onboard on Friday – to his house without lawful authority, prompting authorities to take action against him.

“Told you so”

Exasperated at the government’s failure to launch an inquiry into the airworthiness of all public and private aircraft, Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan said if court orders during the Airblue case were followed the Bhoja Air crash could have been avoided.

At a hearing of several cases on Monday, Justice Khan expressed his dissatisfaction at the country’s domestic aviation sector and said: “Our orders were defied, but if they had been followed, dozens of innocent lives could have been saved.”

It appears that the chief justice was not actually hearing any cases related to either the Airblue or the Bhoja Air tragedies, but decided to take up the issue with the government’s lawyers on what was the first working day of the court in the wake of the latest crash.

Justice Khan reminded the government that in the aftermath of the Airblue crash, the PHC had ordered the defence ministry to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the flying capacity of all planes in the domestic aviation sector within 90 days — an order that the government pleaded unconvincingly that it had complied with.

“Not even a single step has so far been taken. What is the government doing?” asked the chief justice. “Those orders were meant to prevent incidents like these [Bhoja Air crash].”

‘Temporarily suspended’

Following the directives issued by the defence ministry which seeks “to conduct shakedown checks of all passenger planes”, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) ‘temporarily’ suspended Bhoja Air’s operations by launching an inspection of all private air fleets.

Officials on Monday confirmed to The Express Tribune that Bhoja Air cannot operate its planes until it gets clearance from the Airworthiness Directorate of the CAA.

“The CAA will complete Bhoja planes’ shakedown inspections first. Bhoja Air will continue its operation after getting checks of all its fleet (three passenger planes) successfully,” CAA spokesperson Pervez George told The Express Tribune.

(with addtional reporting by Umer Farooq in peshawar)

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Making air travel safer</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368773/making-air-travel-safer</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368773/making-air-travel-safer#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 12 18:58:06 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368773</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Only the CAA can assuage the legitimate fears that have now sprung up after the Bhoja Air crash.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[In an attempt to be seen as performing its job after the Bhoja Air crash, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has now ordered an inspection of every aircraft owned by private airlines. Although the CAA is trying to be proactive in responding to the crash, this is actually a reactive move. It is the job of the CAA to regulate airline safety and in fact, it should have ensured that all airplanes were safe to be flown long before the Bhoja Air tragedy. Nonetheless, belated though the move may be, the CAA must now carry out safety inspections that are thorough, even if it means disrupting the schedules of airlines. The safety inspections should be expanded to include the national airline. When it comes to safety in the skies, shortcuts are not an option.

The rest of us need to be patient because investigations into airline crashes can take many months. The very last thing we need is for politicians to advance their political interests at a time of a national tragedy. The early signs are not encouraging. Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali has already blasted the judicial commission set up to investigate the crash, saying that it had been appointed without the advice of the judiciary. He also accused the president of trying to cover up the tragedy. However, this accusation is without merit. There is no reason to believe that the president had any involvement with Bhoja Air and Chaudhry Nisar Ali could not explain why he would try to cover up the causes of the crash. Indeed, it is not too cynical to suggest that if a judicial commission had not been formed so speedily, the opposition would then have accused the president of dragging his feet.

What is clear at this moment is that Pakistan’s airline industry needs strong regulation. On April 23, an airplane of Shaheen Air had to make an emergency landing in Karachi after its tyres burst, causing the runway to be closed for several hours. Such incidents will now come under greater scrutiny as the public’s fear of air travel grows. Only the CAA can assuage the legitimate fears that have now sprung up after the Bhoja Air crash. Transparency, not obfuscation and excuse-making, is vital to restoring confidence in the airline industry.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja Air tragedy: Peshawar High Court lambasts govt for failing to inspect planes</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368872/bhoja-air-tragedy-peshawar-high-court-lambasts-govt-for-failing-to-inspect-planes</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368872/bhoja-air-tragedy-peshawar-high-court-lambasts-govt-for-failing-to-inspect-planes#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 12 17:05:23 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[umer.farooq]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368872</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Orders had been issued in February to inspect all aircraft in the country for airworthiness.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[It was clearly a case where the judiciary wishes it did not have to say to the government: “We told you so.”

At a hearing of various cases on Monday, Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan expressed his exasperation at the government’s failure to launch an inquiry into the airworthiness of all public and private aircraft in the country’s domestic aviation sector in the aftermath of the AirBlue tragedy two years ago.

“Our orders were defied, but if they had been followed, dozens of innocent lives could have been saved,” said the chief justice, referring to the recent Bhoja Air Flight B4213 crash, which killed 127 people.

It appears that the chief justice was not actually hearing any cases related to either the AirBlue or the Bhoja Air tragedies, but decided to take up the issue with the government’s lawyers on what was the first working day of the court after the most recent crash.

Justice Khan reminded the government that in the aftermath of the AirBlue crash, the Peshawar High Court had ordered the defence ministry to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the flying capacity of all planes in the domestic aviation sector within 90 days, an order that the government pleaded unconvincingly that it had complied with.

“Not even a single step has so far been taken. What is the government doing?” asked the chief justice. “Those orders were meant to prevent incidents like this [Bhoja Air crash].”

The order had been issued on February 21, 2012, during a hearing of the case in which relatives of the victims of the AirBlue crash were suing the airline for negligence and incompetence. The Peshawar High Court had issued the orders to the Civil Aviation Authority – the highest aviation regulator in the country – and the Ministry of Defence, which is the single largest shareholder in the state-owned Pakistan International Airlines. Both authorities had been ordered to hire international experts to assess the capabilities of all planes in the country.

“The cheapest thing in our country is human life,” said the embittered chief justice.]]>
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			<title>Kaira to Sharif: If you have issues with Bhoja commission, make one yourself</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368756/kaira-to-sharif-if-you-have-issues-with-bhoja-commission-make-one-yourself</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368756/kaira-to-sharif-if-you-have-issues-with-bhoja-commission-make-one-yourself#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 12 13:45:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368756</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Information minister says PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif should make a judicial commission of his own choice.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira had said that if Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has any issues with the judicial commission probing the Bhoja air crash, then he should make one of his own choice, Express News reported on Monday.

Talking to the media in Lalamusa, Kaira said that investigations behind the Airblue crash have still not emerged while the owner of the Shaheen Air Company is affiliated with the PML-N and can have a commission made on it again.

The Bhoja Air flight from Karachi came down in fields near a village on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital on Friday evening, in the city’s second major fatal air crash in less than two years.

On the directives of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a three-member judicial commission was set up to determine the cause of the crash.

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, had said that the government formed the judicial commission without the consent of the apex court.]]>
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			<title>CAA begins checks on private airline planes</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368729/caa-begins-checks-on-private-airline-planes</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368729/caa-begins-checks-on-private-airline-planes#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 12 08:40:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368729</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[CAA spokesman says authority launched comprehensive inspection of airplanes flown by private airlines from today.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Monday began an inspection of all passenger planes operated by private airlines after a near-miss in Karachi that came just two days after a fatal crash in Islamabad.

The checks were ordered on Sunday after a Shaheen Air flight with 178 people on board narrowly avoided disaster when its left rear tyre burst after its landing gear broke as it touched down at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi.

On Friday, a Bhoja Air Boeing 737 came down in fields near Islamabad as it tried to land, killing all 127 people on board – Islamabad’s second major crash in less than two years.

“The CAA launched a comprehensive inspection of airplanes being flown by private airlines, from today,” CAA spokesman Pervez George told AFP.

The CAA has already received a plane from Bhoja Air for so-called “shakedown” checks by engineers, George said.

He refused to give any timeline for completion of the process, saying “it is difficult to say how much time the inspectors will take to examine each plane and all its systems”.

“We have asked all the private airlines to reschedule their domestic and international flights during the inspection so the passengers do not have to suffer,” he added.

Inspection work will begin with Bhoja Air planes before moving on to Shaheen Air International and Airblue.

George said planes from the national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had shakedown checks a few months ago and would not be subject to the special inspection.

Another Shaheen flight with more than 100 passengers bound for the Iranian city of Mashhad was prevented from taking off at Lahore on Sunday after a fuel overflow during refuelling, George said.

In July 2010 an Airbus jet operated by Airblue crashed into the hills overlooking Islamabad while coming in to land after a flight from Karachi, killing 152 people in the worst air disaster ever on Pakistani soil.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja crash: Don't play politics on bodies of victims, says Rehman Malik</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368726/bhoja-crash-dont-play-politics-on-bodies-of-victims-says-rehman-malik</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368726/bhoja-crash-dont-play-politics-on-bodies-of-victims-says-rehman-malik#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 12 08:23:05 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368726</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Malik said if anyone from current government is responsible for crash, action will be taken against them.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Interior Minister Rehman Malik, while advising his “political friends”, said on Monday that politicians should not “play politics on bodies” of the Bhoja Air crash victims.

Speaking to the media, Malik said if anyone from the current government is responsible for the Bhoja Air crash, action will be taken against them.

“The FIR which was lodged also has section 302 in it and we also made it public. You should see the actions we are taking; don’t just criticise us,” said the interior minister.

He said that the interior ministry cannot “victimise” someone. “We want to bring hard facts before the peoples and no politics should be done in this regard.”

Earlier on Sunday, Malik said that Bhoja Air was issued license during Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz's (PML-N) government.




The Bhoja Air flight from Karachi came down in fields near a village on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital on Friday evening, in the city’s second major fatal air crash in less than two years.

Among those killed, 13 were buried late Saturday in Islamabad and funerals for 36 other victims were held in Karachi and other cities early Sunday, with more ceremonies expected in different cities throughout the day.

Television broadcasts showed footage of distraught relatives, weeping and hugging each other, as the dozens of coffins left Islamabad’s Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital where the remains had been taken.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja crash: Passengers were under $5m cover by Russian insurer</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368642/bhoja-crash-passengers-were-under-5m-cover-by-russian-insurer</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368642/bhoja-crash-passengers-were-under-5m-cover-by-russian-insurer#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 12 03:31:22 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[adil.jawad]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368642</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[FIA submits initial report into Friday’s air tragedy.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has submitted its initial report to the government about the Bhoja Air crash in which all the 127 people onboard the aircraft had perished on Friday.


Sources revealed that the report gives details of the shareholders, financial status and crucial details about the aircraft carrier itself.

All the passengers of Bhoja Air flight B213 and their luggage were third-party insured in Russia covering $5 million. The plane was owned by Jet Aviation Sharjah and it was registered in South Africa and had completed 46,933 flying hours.

Sources revealed that Bhoja Air had acquired it for $20,000 on a rental basis and it arrived in Pakistan on January 26 this year after the administration had completed the import formalities.

According to sources, the report, compiled under the supervision of FIA Director Moazzam Jah Ansari and Corporate Crime Circle Deputy Director Altaf Hussain, includes the information received from chairman of the airline Farooq Bhoja.

The registration number of the Boeing 737-200 was AP-BKC, its serial number was 23167 and its model was from the year 1985. The civil aviation authority of South Africa had given it clearance before it flew to Pakistan. The engineers of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Pakistan had also given a clear report when they examined it in South Africa, according to sources.

Bhoja purchased its insurance from Reliance Insurance. It also purchased a third-party insurance of its passengers and the luggage through Reliance Insurance from Imgosstrakh Insurance Company of Moscow.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Crash victim: ‘I couldn’t feel my legs’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368656/crash-victim-%e2%80%98i-couldn%e2%80%99t-feel-my-legs%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368656/crash-victim-%e2%80%98i-couldn%e2%80%99t-feel-my-legs%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 12 01:37:30 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[obaid.abbasi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368656</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[“I last heard their voices when the plane was about to take off, and hours later I received their bodies,&quot; says father]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Bhoja Air flight B213’s crash has left scores of families with inerasable scars and indescribable trauma.


For Mumtaz Ahmed that day will be remembered in infamy — he not only lost his wife but also two of his four children on the ill-fated flight which claimed the lives of 127 people on Friday.

A resident of Islamabad, Ahmed was anxiously waiting for his wife, daughter and son to reach Islamabad after spending a month in Karachi.

He instead received three coffins and life henceforth changed for him.

“I was waiting to receive my family at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport at around 6:00 pm and within half an hour, news broke on TV about the plane crash.

“I couldn’t feel my legs; the feeling was inexplicable, the pain excruciating,’’ Ahmed said with vacant eyes — as if staring into an abyss.

“I last heard their voices when the plane was about to take off from Karachi. And hours later I received their bodies at the PIMS hospital.’’

His wife Khalida, and two children – 13-year-old son Faique and six-year-old daughter Yamna – had gone to Karachi last month to visit their maternal grandmother.

Originally from Karachi, the family had settled in Islamabad in the last couple of years. The two children, Faique and Yamna, used to study in the Islamabad Convent School.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Ahmed said he has lost everything.

“When I heard the news I tried to reach the site but could not due to heavy traffic,” he said, trying hard to hide his tears.

Nostalgically, he said that his son Faique was in grade seven and daughter Yamna in grade four — both exceptionally studious with Faique receiving straight As last year.

“Yamna, the youngest one, was especially close to me. I had been missing her immensely since she left for Karachi. How do you make sense of the fact that you won’t ever see your baby again?’’

Misery has consumed the eldest son of the family too.

“I had never imagined this would happen to me. I’ve lost a mother, sister and brother,” Rashique said in disbelief.

While the family tries to fill the painful void that this tragedy has left in their lives, many a tear fall across the country with an incident that will refuse to wear down with time.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>As confusion reigns, Bhoja Air’s majority stakeholder placed on ECL</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368655/as-confusion-reigns-bhoja-air%e2%80%99s-majority-stakeholder-placed-on-ecl</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368655/as-confusion-reigns-bhoja-air%e2%80%99s-majority-stakeholder-placed-on-ecl#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 12 01:16:12 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zahid.gishkori]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368655</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Rehman Malik says authorities have told Arshad Jalil to return from China.]]>
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				<![CDATA[While Interior Minister Rehman Malik confirmed reports that Arshad Jalil, who is currently in China, is the majority stakeholder of Bhoja Air, confusion reigned as a number of different investigation teams popped up to investigate Friday’s fatal air crash.

The interior minister also confirmed that Farooq Bhoja, previously considered to be the airline’s owner, actually owns only 5% of the shares. Jalil, his wife, and his son Umer hold 40, 20 and 20 per cent shares, respectively.

The Jalil family as well as Bhoja and two others have been named on the Exit Control List (ECL).

“We have written to Jalil to return to Pakistan and become a part of investigations,” said Malik, speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting in Islamabad.

However, he said nothing in response to a question about the government’s action in case Jalil refuses to return voluntarily amidst pressure for compensating the families of victims, although according to sources, Jalil has reassured Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) authorities that he will return to Pakistan within two days.

Sources added that the FIA is preparing questions for the Bhoja Air owner in this regard.

Meanwhile, the Karachi division of the FIA released Farooq Bhoja after questioning. Jalil’s son, Umer, was also questioned by the FIA at the Bhoja Air office. Airline records were taken from the office by the agency in his presence.

Overlapping teams?

On the other hand, a four-member inquiry team of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), headed by Group Captain (retd) Mujahidul Islam, was absent from the crash site on Sunday.

Instead, another nine-member team, headed by Group Captain (retd) Sardar Muhammad Ilyas, examined the plane’s wreckage. Ilyas is a member of CAA’s Safety and Investigation Board and was previously involved in the technical investigation of the 2010 Airblue crash on Margalla Hills.

“He is currently in the airworthiness examination side and would have visited the site for checking exactly that,” said an unnamed CAA official.

Previously, his appointment in the Safety and Investigation Board was challenged in the Sindh High Court (SHC) in February 2011, as he allegedly lacked the requisite qualification for the post.

A Koral police official said the nine-member team stayed at the site for over two hours and examined the wreckage. The official told The Express Tribune that the voice recorder of the plane was handed over to aviation officials after its recovery on Saturday.

Confusion, however, was apparent – while CAA spokesperson Pervez George said different experts could visit the site, he was uncertain who the inquiry committee had permitted to visit the site and assist. In addition to this overlap, a police team was conducting its own inquiry. A police official said they were collecting evidence from the area where the plane’s wreckage was scattered.

Another inquiry team, a judicial commission, has also been formed under the former Lahore High Court chief justice Zahid Hussain Bukhari.

“The inquiry findings will be made public and no aspect will be missed,” said Interior Minister Malik in his press conference, insisting that the overall probe into the incident was going along smoothly.

However, some CAA officials close to the inquiry said too many probes by different people would only confuse the investigation process.

‘Don’t blame govt’

The interior minister also defended the government, saying it was wrong to accuse it of involvement with the Bhoja Air administration as the company was issued a licence in 1992 under Nawaz Sharif’s government.

The airline was allowed to operate with only three planes at the time, said Malik. Based on the rules set then, the airline challenged its services’ suspension in 2001 in the court, he added. He insisted the airline’s services were resumed only after all necessary standards were met.

Meanwhile FIA authorities said that the ongoing investigation is focused on fact finding only as of now, as a criminal investigation cannot start till the report of the technical investigation is ready.

(Read: Another airline crash)

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM ADIL JAWAD IN KARACHI)

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja Air plane crash: PML-N rejects ‘partial’ judicial commission</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368657/bhoja-air-plane-crash-pml-n-rejects-%e2%80%98partial%e2%80%99-judicial-commission</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368657/bhoja-air-plane-crash-pml-n-rejects-%e2%80%98partial%e2%80%99-judicial-commission#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 12 00:48:58 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qamar.zaman]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368657</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Chaudhry Nisar says govt formed the panel without the consent of superior judiciary.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A day after the government ordered a judicial inquiry into the tragic Bhoja Air crash, the opposition heaped scorn at the premier for the ‘controversial makeup’ of the commission for this purpose.


Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, said on Sunday that the government formed the judicial commission without the consent of the apex court.

“The so-called commission cannot be termed a ‘judicial’ commission, which has been set up to cover up facts,” he told a news conference in Islamabad.

A judicial commission is one which includes serving judges and is set up either in consultation with a high court chief justice or the chief justice of Pakistan, Khan said.

The judges, who took oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, faced contempt charges themselves and did not qualify to be called judges, he added.

The commission named by the government comprises Justice (retd) Syed Zahid Hussain and Justice (retd) Nasim Sikandar and a police official to be appointed by the interior ministry.

Accusing President Asif Ali Zardari of favouring the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Chaudhry Nisar said that his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, would not accept false findings. “We will challenge this cover-up even if we have to go to the courts.”

Chaudhry Nisar also accused one of the commission’s members of being a ‘blue-eyed’ official of President Zardari.

“Can the prime minister not help appointing controversial persons?” questioned Chaudhry Nisar. “It is a planned move as the commission will do whatever is desired by the government,” he said.

He also accused the government of concealing facts in several cases, including the May 2 Abbottabad raid, Mehran base attack, Memogate scandal and the ongoing Ephedrine quota case against the premier’s son.

“The government has once again turned a national tragedy into a controversy, but we will question this in the National Assembly,” Khan said.

Referring to the 2010 Airblue tragedy, he said: “The people still don’t know the reasons for the crash: Who is responsible? How can such accidents be avoided in the future? We want to know the facts, whosoever is responsible.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Scare in the air: Near-disasters prompt scrutiny of air fleets</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368645/scare-in-the-air-near-disasters-prompt-scrutiny-of-air-fleets</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368645/scare-in-the-air-near-disasters-prompt-scrutiny-of-air-fleets#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 23:56:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kamran.yousaf]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368645</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Shaheen Air flight makes emergency landing, another called off just before takeoff due to leakage of its fuel tank.]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Just three days after the fatal Bhoja Air plane crash, two more airliners narrowly escaped disasters on Sunday, prompting the authorities to order a ‘shakedown inspection’ of the fleets of all private airlines.


Under the ‘shakedown inspection’ – which includes checking fitness of the planes as well as crew members – all private airlines will have to seek fresh fitness certificates for their fleet amid growing public concern about the safety of their aircraft.

The defence ministry’s move followed two near-air disasters in Karachi and Lahore.

In the first incident, Shaheen Air’s Boeing 737-400, coming from Islamabad, made an emergency landing at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport after its rear left tyre burst, breaking the landing gear and blocking the runway for eight hours.

Hours later, panicked passengers of Shaheen Air’s Iran-bound flight had to be disembarked due to a fuel leakage at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport. However, no one was hurt in both incidents.

The incidents, which happened in quick succession, prompted strict action from the defence ministry. Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar told state-run television that the fleet of all the private airlines have been grounded for fitness checking.

Aircraft detected with standards lower than the international criterion will be barred from flying and pilots will also undergo fitness checking, the minister added.

However, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) later clarified that all the aircraft were not grounded for fitness checking simultaneously.

Parvez George told The Express Tribune that all private airlines would be asked to provide one schedule at a time for a detailed inspection of each of their aircraft. “The complete inspection of an aircraft can take at least two days,” George added.

Karachi emergency landing

In Karachi, Shaheen Air’s flight NL-122 proceeded to land around midday. But the minute the plane touched down, its landing gear broke down and the aircraft dragged for a few metres before coming to a halt.

All the passengers and crew members were safely disembarked. However, it took the CAA staff eight hours to remove the airliner from the runway.

CAA spokesperson George confirmed that the runway had to be closed for eight hours. “The plane’s landing gear was broken, so we could not tow it,” he added.

Six incoming flights had to be diverted to other cities while eight domestic and international flights were delayed. Hundreds of passengers booked on these flights remained stranded at the airport.

According to Shaheen Air’s spokesperson Farooq Nasir, there were 160 passengers on board flight NL-122.

While explaining the possible reasons for the crash landing, Karachi Airport Manager Nasir Sheikh said that tyres could burst if a plane does not land properly. “Sometimes, if one side touches down before the other, it can break the landing gear of an aircraft.”

Lahore fuel leak

In Lahore, meanwhile, another Shaheen Air flight NL-742 was stopped just before the takeoff due to a leakage in one of its fuel tanks.

According to the Allama Iqbal International Airport website, the scheduled departure time of the Mashhad-bound flight was 10:45am but it was delayed on ‘operational grounds’ till 2:00pm.

The flight was then given the green signal. According to the CAA spokesperson, the aircraft was again stopped just before the takeoff due to the leakage of fuel from one of its tanks.

An official on the airline’s inquiry counter said that the fuel tank overflowed and that it did not leak. He also revealed that there were 91 passengers on board the Mashhad-bound flight.

After a long delay, passengers refused to fly on the same plane and were consequently shifted to three hotels in Lahore, a source said.

The Shaheen Air spokesperson accused the media of sensationalising the events.

“The media has played up these incidents, especially the second one,” Farooq Nasir said. “The aircraft are properly checked by our engineers. And the regulator would not allow anything to fly that is technically unfit.”

(Read: Another airline crash)

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja Air 737: Ambition was sky high for flight attendant Princess Flavia</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368564/bhoja-air-737-ambition-was-sky-high-for-flight-attendant-princess-flavia</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368564/bhoja-air-737-ambition-was-sky-high-for-flight-attendant-princess-flavia#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 23:44:03 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[rabia.ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368564</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The ambitious 26-year-old had put off wedding plans for her career.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Princess Flavia was royalty in more than just name. She was the most pampered child in her home. Her mother would serve her breakfast in bed. She owned a huge collection of elegant dresses. And she loved to dance and go to parties.

But unlike fairy tale princesses, her end was not a happy one. Flavia, 26, who worked as a flight attendant, died a tragic death. She perished with 127 other people in the Bhoja Air crash on the outskirts of the capital on Friday.

“Her life was similar to those princesses live, except for one aspect. She had a job, and princesses don’t work,” said Prince Henry, Flavia’s elder brother. Sitting in his apartment in DHA’s Bukhari commercial, Henry tried hard to fight the tears as friends and relatives streamed in with condolences.

“We were inseparable. We were best friends; we even studied in the same school.” Both of them matriculated from YMCA, after which Flavia did her intermediate and BSc from a government college. Then developed her desire to become a flight attendant. “I don’t know what inspired her to become an airhostess. But whatever the motivation was, she wasn’t ready to budge from her decision,” he shrugged.

The decision irked her father and brother. “We knew it was a risky job. We were always scared of plane crashes.” They tried to persuade her to study more but she would not listen. In between attending phone calls and explaining addresses to relatives, Henry shared that Shaheen Air was the first airline Flavia joined and where she worked for two and a half years.

Every flight of hers ended with lots of stories to share with the family. “She loved travelling and was crazy about flying to the UK where my father lives.  But she never got a chance,” he said with a small smile. Flavia, who was well known for her attractive features, also modelled for an advertisement for a pharmaceutical company alongside her brother. According to him, she was recently made an offer to model for a newly launched lawn line but he did not permit her to take this job as he wanted her to focus on one thing at a time.

She was so intent on her career that she pooh-poohed getting married. “Last Friday I told my mother to just marry her off and Flavia just laughed,” said Henry.

Flavia’s passion for her career included the goals of working for renowned airlines such as Emirates and Qatar Airways. But for the time being, she took what was offered to her: Bhoja Air. “The airline promised a bright future - of going onboard with jumbos. That lured Flavia into joining and she fell for their trap,” he said angrily. “Every time her flight would take off, I would call her to ask if she had landed safely. But this time her mobile was off. Her life was off.”

Christian leaders from various political parties came to condole but were shooed away by Henry. “They just wanted to make news by coming to our place. I told them that if they really wanted to help, they should set up a camp in Islamabad and facilitate those coming to take their loved ones.”

But perhaps the gravest slight was that Henry had to bring her body home on a Bhoja Air flight.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja Air 737: Thousands attend funerals across Sindh</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368563/bhoja-air-737-thousands-attend-funerals-across-sindh</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368563/bhoja-air-737-thousands-attend-funerals-across-sindh#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 23:40:07 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[sarfaraz.memon]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368563</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Funerals held from Shikarpur to Jacobabad.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[As many as 43 bodies of those onboard Bhoja Air which crashed on Friday, killing 127 people, have reached Karachi. A total of 14 funerals were held on Sunday.

Five victims were laid to rest in their native graveyards in Thari Mir Wah, Shikarpur and Jacobabad.

The passengers included Hameeda and her two daughters, Shazia and Sadaf, who were residents of the Sher Mohammad Shar village near Thari Mir Wah, along with Zuhra Khatoon who was a resident of Mirpur Buriro near Thull, and Dr Asadullah Mangrio, a resident of Shikarpur.

Thousands of people reportedly attended the burial processions.

Not just victims of flight B 213

Zuhra Khatoon, wife of late Mohammad Mureed Dayo, was coming back from Karachi after attending wedding festivities of a close relative.

She was supposed to meet her son Mohammad Saqib Dayo, an engineer in the Pakistan Army, who is posted in Rawalpindi. According to her will, she was laid to rest in Jacobabad.

The bodies of 55-year-old Hameeda, the wife of late Khadim Hussain Shar, and her two daughters, 28-year-old Sadaf and 25-year-old Shazia, were brought to Thari Mir Wah. Hameeda was planning to visit her son, Khalid Hussain Shar, in the United States with her daughters and was reportedly scheduled for an interview at the American Embassy in Islamabad. The family went through two deaths in the last three years, one of Hameeda’s husband and the other of her son, Farhan Shar, who was killed during a car-snatching attempt in Karachi eight months ago.

Dr Asadullah Mangrio, resident of Mangrio Muhalla Hazaridar, Shikarpur, was a physiatrist and worked at the Lyari General Hospital in Karachi. He leaves behind a widow, a son and a daughter and was laid to rest in the Haji Latif Shah Graveyard. He also ran a free clinic near his house in Shikarpur.

In Karachi, Anisa Akbar’s body was the only one flown from the capital on Sunday. Her remains arrived on PK 301 on Sunday morning and her funeral was held at the DHA imambargah.

Her husband Mir Muhammad Akbar demanded that investigations be carried out by experts only. “What is happening right now is that people are jumping to conclusions, and in a bid to uncover the truth the media is making assumptions,” he said.

Unlike other families who had to pay Rs5,000, Akbar said that he did not pay a single penny to bring his wife home as the airline covered the cost.

with additional input from Karachi

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja Air crash: CDA chairperson criticises Rescue 1122 for hampering rescue work</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368549/bhoja-air-crash-cda-chairperson-criticises-rescue-1122-for-hampering-rescue-work</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368549/bhoja-air-crash-cda-chairperson-criticises-rescue-1122-for-hampering-rescue-work#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 22:38:47 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[peer.muhammad]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368549</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Rescue 1122 official disputes the claim, says they were the first to arrive on scene.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Admitting loopholes in coordination and communication in the rescue operation, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairperson on Sunday criticised Punjab Rescue Service 1122 for hampering rescue work at the Bhoja airplane’s crash site.

Addressing a press conference on the civic agency’s emergency response to the crash, CDA Chairperson Farkhand Iqbal said that rescue work was bogged down by “the silly actions” of Rescue 1122 Rawalpindi. Their actions, he said, “raised ambiguity over the command and control of the operation” and delayed the dispatch of the remains of the plane crash victims to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

Iqbal said that Rescue 1122 officials created “unneeded” delays by preventing CDA rescue teams from dispatching ambulances without authorisation by their supervisor.

This claim was disputed by a senior official of Rescue 1122 Rawalpindi, who told The Express Tribune that they were the first to arrive at the scene. Their supervisor, he added, coordinated with rescue command and control officials.

He maintained that the whole operation remained largely directionless till more than half of the bodies were shifted to the hospital. “Rescue 1122 officials were perhaps the only ones who worked with discipline and under some command,” he added.

In his press conference, Iqbal also said the authority’s Command and Control room received reports of the plan crash at 6:50pm and immediately dispatched special urban search and rescue teams to the crash site, along with doctors and paramedical staff in 12 ambulances. The chairperson said that the rescue teams reached the scene at 7:18pm -- a claim disputed by media persons present at the site and also the Rawalpindi Rescue 1122 official.

“Our closest station at Bahria Town was the first to respond and our first rescue vehicle arrived at the scene after more than half an hour of receiving the distress call at 6:50 pm,” said the rescue official.

Also present at the conference, Prime Minister Task Force on CDA Chairperson Faisal Sakhi Butt expressed concern over the lack of mortuaries to store a large number of bodies. “We have realised this shortcoming seriously and will take immediate measures to address it.”

Butt said that besides retrieving bodies and remains of the crash victims, CDA rescue teams also recovered currency, bags, laptops, mobiles, jewellery and other belongings and handed them over to the police. He said that of the 127 people onboard the plane, bodies of 118 passengers have been handed over to their heirs, while nine are still at Pims. Of the bodies that remain at Pims, three are yet to be identified, he added.

‘Job done’

When asked whether the authority conducted sprays to prevent odour and disease from the charred human remains scattered at the crash site, the CDA chairperson said that is the responsibility of the National Disaster Management Authority.

“We have done our job.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>FIA releases Bhoja Air owner</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368353/fia-releases-bhoja-air-owner</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368353/fia-releases-bhoja-air-owner#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 13:54:46 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368353</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Farooq Bhoja was earlier taken into custody by FIA for interrogation.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Bhoja Air owner Farooq Bhoja, who was earlier taken into custody by Federal Investigative Agency (FIA), was released on Sunday after initial investigations, Express News reported.

Bhoja was taken into custody on April 21 after FIA started its probe into the Bhoja Air plane crash which left 121 passengers and six crew members dead.

FIA Sindh Director Muazzam Jah Ansari had said that Bhoja was not arrested but just taken into custody for interrogation. He was taken into custody from his house in the Burns Road area of Karachi.

The FIA also raided his office in the Nursery area and seized official documents for inquiry.

Earlier, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that Bhoja’s name has been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).

Bhoja Air plane crash

The private company’s passenger airliner crashed near Islamabad on April 20 while trying to land during a thunderstorm. All 127 people on board died during the incident.

The flight from Karachi burst into flames after coming down in fields near a village on the outskirts of capital Islamabad as it tried to land in rain and hail at the city’s international airport.

The airline officials confirmed that the Boeing 737-200 was carrying 121 passengers, including 11 children, as well as six crew.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja Air crash: Volunteerism, voyeurism; vandalism</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368323/bhoja-air-crach-volunteerism-voyeurism-vandalism</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368323/bhoja-air-crach-volunteerism-voyeurism-vandalism#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 09:07:55 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Vaqas]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368323</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Rescue efforts: many ‘tamashais’ who made it to the site managed to pick up stray cellphones and jewellery.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Spread out in long grass, with the smell of spent jet fuel hovering in the air, burning plastics and a sea of corpses covering, the similarity to the Air Blue crash was eerie.

With 127 feared dead and village houses covered with smouldering remains, the traffic jams en route to the disaster site were unimaginable.

Thousands of people had dropped everything they were doing, rushed out of their homes and rushed to the crash site to help save the survivors of Bhoja Air flight 213.

They saved thousands.

Just not people.

Not a single person was alive by the time the ill-fated aircraft came to a stand in Hussainabad village. But there were survivors.

Just not the human kind.

Millions worth of cellphones, jewellery and other luggage items were strewn across the bloodied, burning field. While most were damaged, there was still money to be made by the unscrupulous, and we are blessed with more than our fair share of those.

Before rescue services could even get to the tiny hamlet, villagers started sifting through the debris in a futile search for survivors. Help soon arrived, or so they thought. Unfortunately, it was the kind they and the victims’ families could do without.

At the site, a crowd of gawking voyeurs had collected, seeing the opportunity to take a couple of pictures of the crash site or pose with the wreckage. They were squealing with laughter and joking around. When our news team was stuck in traffic – mostly other gawkers – along the narrow road to the site, one twenty-something gent returning from there, laughing like he was leaving the cinema after watching a comedy, advised us to turn around because the scene was “boring”.

He then stopped in the middle of the road, got off his bike, went and stood in front of an ambulance and had his friend take pictures. It wasn’t until a soldier got to the site and ordered him to return to the rock he crawled out from under that traffic got moving.

Once the army moved in and started organising things, gawkers were told to turn around and traffic flow improved. Unfortunately, with nowhere else to embarrass themselves, they converged on the media assembled at the nearby gas station-cum-temporary relief organising area. Here, while some volunteers attempted to help the traffic police, arguing with the voyeur crowd, dozens of cars, bikes, vans, pedestrians and even a tractor kept trying to get to the site, creating havoc.

Somewhere along the line a scuffle broke out among the spectators – one group was talking so loud it was apparently drowning out the other’s shameful ‘jokes’. All the while, a small group of victims’ relatives standing nearby was trying to stay composed.

It wasn’t until the classic laathi-charge threat that the jokers left.

Still, many ‘tamashais’ who made it to the site managed to pick up stray cellphones and jewellery. One such group left in a luxury sedan.

All this while our dear interior minister raced into action to get to the hospitals and then the crash site. Fortunately, army men, remembering Malik’s inability to tell apples from bananas, decided it would be better if he did not help them look for human remains in the mud. Malik’s dozen-car motorcade raced back, cutting off ambulances and other emergency vehicles as it did on the way to the scene. A bunch of local political leaders also showed up and left without even getting their shoes dirty.

Death is not supposed to be a joke. But in a poverty and hunger-stricken land where words like tsunami inspire hope, atomic weapons are a source of pride, and soldiers are sent to die in frozen wastelands, what is wrong will always be right.

The writer is a sub editor on the Islamabad Desk. vaqas.asghar@tribune.com.pk

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2012. ]]>
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			<title>Victims of Bhoja Air crash buried</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368330/pakistan-buries-victims-of-airline-crash</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368330/pakistan-buries-victims-of-airline-crash#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 07:54:58 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368330</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Among those killed, 49 have been buried in Islamabad, Karachi and other cities.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan on Sunday buried victims of an airline crash near Islamabad that killed all 127 people on board, as investigators probed the causes of the fatal incident.

The Bhoja Air flight from Karachi came down in fields near a village on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital on Friday evening, in the city's second major fatal air crash in less than two years.

Among those killed, 13 were buried late Saturday in Islamabad and funerals for 36 other victims were held in Karachi and other cities early Sunday, with more ceremonies expected in different cities throughout the day.

Television broadcasts showed footage of distraught relatives, weeping and hugging each other, as the dozens of coffins left Islamabad's Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital where the remains had been taken.

Some nine dead bodies have not yet been identified and will undergo DNA tests, a hospital official said.

An AFP reporter who visited the hospital late Saturday said some of the remains still at the hospital were no more than body parts, stored on stretchers and covered by white sheets.

The flight data recorder has been recovered and will be sent abroad for analysis, and the overall investigation could take up to a year to complete its work, he told reporters Saturday,

Interior minister Rehman Malik said a committee had been set up to investigate the crash and the head of the airline Farooq Bhoja had been put on an "exit control list", banning him from leaving Pakistan.

All 127 people on board -- 121 passengers and six crew -- were killed when the plane crashed and burst into flames at around 6:40 pm on Friday. There were 11 children among the dead.

The crash came less than two years after the worst ever air disaster on Pakistani soil.

In July 2010 an Airbus A321 operated by Airblue crashed into the hills overlooking Islamabad while coming in to land in heavy rain and poor visibility, killing all 152 people on board.

Friday's flight was Bhoja's first evening trip from Karachi to Islamabad since resuming operations last month after a 12-year suspension for not paying Civil Aviation Authority dues.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja Air crash: Judicial commission set up for probe</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368327/bhoja-air-crash-judicial-commission-set-up-for-probe</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368327/bhoja-air-crash-judicial-commission-set-up-for-probe#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 07:26:10 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368327</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Three-member commission formed on premier's directives to be headed by former CJ LHC Zahid Hussain Bukhari.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[On the directives of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, a three-member judicial commission was set up to determine the cause of the Bhoja Air crash, Express News reported Sunday.

The Interior Ministry issued a notification for the constitution of a judicial commission which will be headed by former chief justice Lahore High Court, Justice (retd) Zahid Hussain Bukhari.

Justice (retd) Nasim Sikandar will be a member of the commission, while Dr Wasim Kausar will be the secretary.

The judicial commission will conduct investigations and decide if Bhoja Air could be allowed to resume operations or not.

It will also compile the record of the past flights of the aircraft and will give recommendations on avoiding such a tragedy in the future.

The commission will be probing into the airworthiness of the aircraft.

Earlier, the owner of Bhoja Air, Farooq Bhoja was taken into custody by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and his name was also placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).

The plane's Black Box was recovered late Saturday night from the crash site by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has been handed over to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) but when it will be sent for examination is yet to be ascertained.]]>
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			<title>Despite PHC orders, fleets of airlines not examined</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368220/despite-phc-orders-fleets-of-airlines-not-examined</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368220/despite-phc-orders-fleets-of-airlines-not-examined#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 04:39:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.zulfiqar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368220</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The court has discarded Airblue crash investigation; defence ministry issues a reinvestigation notification.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[It has been almost 20 months since Airblue flight ED-202 crashed in Islamabad’s Margalla hills, killing all 152 onboard, but the investigation report – including recommendations to avert such catastrophes in the future – has been found unsatisfactory by the Peshawar High Court (PHC).


The PHC, where the Airblue management is currently facing a legal battle from families of the victims, had directed the federal government to have inspected fleets of all domestic airliners, including Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) by international experts.

Three months have passed and the inspection has yet to take place. In the meantime, an ill-fated plane of Bhoja Air, the private airline which recently resumed operation after the 2001 financial crisis, crashed on the outskirts of Islamabad on Friday, killing all 127 passengers and crew aboard.

The defence ministry has issued a notification of reinvestigation of the Airblue crash and ordered an inspection of the fleets of all domestic airlines. The ministry also informed the PHC that a letter has been written to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to nominate experts for the task.

According to Obaid Abbasi, a law officer of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), ICAO has forwarded the request of the Pakistani government to the UN secretary general for approval.

The defence ministry had submitted the investigation report on December 20, 2011 in the PHC. One of the reasons the court ordered that the investigation report be discarded was the negligent response of the authorities.

During the January 19 hearing, the PHC chief justice asked the president of the Safety Investigation Board of the CAA, Khawaja Majeed, in which container the Black Box of flight ED-202 was sealed. Majeed was ignorant of the methodology used for the preservation of the Black Box and could not give the court a satisfactory response.

As a result, the court rejected the report and passed an order available with The Express Tribune that said, “The investigation report submitted was found to be inconclusive and incomplete in many aspects because the interrogatories made from the officer and many aspects of the incident remained unsatisfied and unattended.”

The court ordered the federal government to constitute a competent and independent board of inquiry consisting of members and experts mentioned in the ICAO and Warsaw Convention.

The investigation report of Airblue, available with The Express Tribune, reveals that Khawja Majeed and his team had suggested some safety recommendations in the report to prevent such a disastrous crash in the future. Those suggestions included improved aircrew training, an implemented safety management system, prioritising the functionality of the new airport in Islamabad and a review of compensation regulations, among others.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja Air crash: For eyewitnesses, it seemed like the end of the world</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368221/bhoja-air-crash-for-eyewitnesses-it-seemed-like-the-end-of-the-world</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368221/bhoja-air-crash-for-eyewitnesses-it-seemed-like-the-end-of-the-world#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 04:37:15 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[obaid.abbasi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368221</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Pilot appeared to have crashed into trees before lifting the plane upwards, say residents.]]>
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				<![CDATA[As fire and smouldering flesh fell from the sky, Intazar Hussain could be excused for thinking it was the end of the world.


A resident of Hussainabad, where the ill-fated Bhoja Air plane crashed, Hussain and several other eye-witnesses revealed how exactly the plane crashed – and the recap was dramatic.

“I was in the field and I saw the plane in a landing position. The pilot was attempting to land (the plane) in the field but then it crashed into the trees ... after that, he tried to lift it up and then the plane exploded in the air.”

Zafar Ali, a student, who was also an eyewitness, confirmed that the plane attempted to land and crashed into trees after which the pilot lifted the plane upwards for sometime.

The remains of the plane were scattered over three houses in particular, spread out over around two and a half acres. Fortunately for the residents of the area, most were either in their rooms or in the fields when the crash occurred.

“I am lucky that all my family members were saved and only my house walls were damaged,’’ said a shaken resident, Sagheer Ahmed.

Hussainabad village is located a mere ten kilometres away from the main highway. The village comes under the Koral Union Council and has a population of over 3,000 people. The majority of the residents are government employees.

Talking to The Express Tribune, residents and eyewitnesses said that they were they were going about their routine when they suddenly heard a huge blast. It was obvious that no one had recovered from the trauma just yet.

“I was preparing food, I just heard a huge blast, and when I reached outside I saw scattered body parts. It was terrible,” said Hussain’s wife, Azra.

Seven-year-old Nafeesa Batool was standing at the door when debris landed in her home. Unable to comprehend what had happened, she wept in her mother’s arms.

“It was a nightmare for me when I saw scattered body parts. Initially, I could not understand what had happened,’’ said Nazia Hussain, another witness.

While residents remained shaken, rescue operations picked up speed on Saturday. Workers from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) removed the remaining body parts and moved them to hospitals. Much of the wreckage, however, has not been removed. Talking to the media, Captain Mujahid Islam, head of the CAA investigation team, said the plane parts would be lifted after gathering forensic evidence from the site.“Parts of the plane will not be lifted until the investigation is completed,” he added.

Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Amir Ali Ahmed said the recovery operation was complete. Responding to a query, he said that the ICT civil defence staff will remain present at the site till Sunday evening. Unfortunately, not everyone present at the site on Friday appeared to have been interested in the rescue operation. “I have seen plenty of people stealing gold bangles from the arms of a body, and some youngsters were busy collecting cash and mobile phones from the site,” Muhammad Asif, a resident, told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Struck by tragedy: Only memories remain for victims’ families, friends</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368225/struck-by-tragedy-only-memories-remain-for-victims%e2%80%99-families-friends</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368225/struck-by-tragedy-only-memories-remain-for-victims%e2%80%99-families-friends#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 04:35:28 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[rabia.ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368225</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Amongst those who lost their lives were a family of six, two best friends, and a newly-wed couple.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The families of Mohammad Irfan and Imran Waheed would tease them for being inseparable. On Friday, the families were united in their grief as they mourned their deaths in the Bhoja Air plane crash.


“Even in death they were with one another, setting the greatest example of what friendship is,” said Abdul Manan, Imran’s brother.

The two grew up playing cricket together and set up a marble production business as adults.

“People saw the plane on fire before crashing. I saw human pieces scattered all over the place, but thank God my brother’s body was intact,” said Manan, who had returned from Islamabad with a coffin.

Among the couples who were en route to Islamabad for their honeymoon were Sufia and Syed Muhammad Rizwan, who tied the knot on February 19.

“I can’t believe she is gone. She promised she would come back after 10 days. We had never imagined she would come home like this,” said Sufia’s brother Atiq, as he stood in a narrow lane in Liaquatabad.

Sufia wanted to have lots of kids, her family recalled. “Only memories of my niece are left,” said her uncle. “All is gone now.”

In Gulberg, a sister-in-law realised how much can change in a week. “Last Saturday we had a one-dish party, and this Saturday, we are mourning their loss,” Saman said, recalling time spent with her brother-in-law’s family. Adeel Ahmed Chughtai, his wife Asma, and their four children – one aged six – died in the crash.  Asked if the families would push for an investigation, Saman laughed sadly: “Investigation? What investigation? There can be no impartial inquiry in this country.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>They missed their flight – and lived to share their tale</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368228/they-missed-their-flight-%e2%80%93-and-lived-to-share-their-tale</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368228/they-missed-their-flight-%e2%80%93-and-lived-to-share-their-tale#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 04:32:07 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368228</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[My friends forced me to change my flight to Sunday instead of Friday. Thank God I did, says Tariq.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Ehtisham Tariq was spared by an impromptu decision. Just hours before he was scheduled to travel on the Bhoja Air flight, he cancelled his ticket so that he could attend a Basant festival at the Institute of Business and Management.


“I was having dinner with my friends on Thursday night, and they all forced me to change my flight to Sunday instead of Friday. Thank God I did.” A student of the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) in Islamabad, the 21-year-old was in Karachi to meet his family.

Tariq is staying away from air travel for now. Having refunded his ticket, he will travel to Islamabad via a Daewoo bus. “At least I’ll get to the place in one piece,” he said nervously.

Another passenger who cancelled his tickets for Friday’s plane was Samar Abbas, who was going to Skardu via Islamabad with his wife, young son and niece. “My son suddenly fell ill and the doctor advised us not to travel.” Abbas says he will leave for the capital on Monday but on another airline. “Bhoja can’t be trusted now. I will never travel on it again.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Struck by tragedy, twice: Two years, two crashes, two loved ones lost</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368230/struck-by-tragedy-twice-two-years-two-crashes-two-loved-ones-lost</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368230/struck-by-tragedy-twice-two-years-two-crashes-two-loved-ones-lost#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 04:21:00 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368230</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Ill-fated family lost family member in 2010 Airblue crash, lost another in the Bhoja Air crash on April 20 this year.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The ill-fated family who lost a family member in the 2010 Airblue crash and lost another in the Bhoja Air crash on April 20 this year has been left traumatised.


They’ve decided never to travel by air again, but rather only by train or by road regardless of how long the travelling time may be.

“Travelling by air has become a nightmare for us,” said Mubashir Ahmed, who lost his younger brother Mohammad Yousuf, 38, in the Airblue crash.

Tariq Mehmood was the next member of the family who was lost in the crash on April 20. He was buried in Okara on Saturday evening.

“On April 20 I was watching the TV and was feeling sorry for all those families who lost their loved ones in the Bhoja Air crash. The incident refreshed my pain and memories of the Airblue plane crash. At that time I was unaware of the fact that I was also among one of those families. An hour later, I received a call and learnt that Tariq was also travelling by Bhoja Air. It was a big shock for me and my wife,” he said.

Tariq was the father of a seven-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy, and was based in Karachi. He owned a transport business.

He was arriving in Islamabad to attend the passing out parade at Kakul academy which his sister’s son was participating in.

“At around 9.30 pm I came across his remains. I recognised him with his face which was 75 percent washed away but it had his lower and upper limbs attached with it,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Ripples of grief in Swabi, DI Khan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368232/ripples-of-grief-in-swabi-di-khan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368232/ripples-of-grief-in-swabi-di-khan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 04:19:26 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zulfiqar.ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368232</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Some bid farewell to loved ones, others brave agonising wait.]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Sobia’s family was waiting for her, and her daughter, to arrive in Dera Ismail Khan. Now, they are waiting for their bodies.


“She called her mother at 4pm on Friday, informing her that she was coming to Islamabad through Bhoja Air and will contact us from there. That never happened,” Sibghatullah, Sobia’s uncle, told The Express Tribune.

The grief-struck man sat outside Sobia’s house with her father Riffatullah, a teacher at a government primary school in Wakian Wala area of DI Khan city. The men were receiving people who were coming to condole for their loss. Sobia’s mother, her two sisters and a brother are in Islamabad to collect the bodies of Sobia and Tayyaba.

Sobia, 25, had married her cousin Abidur Rehman in 2008 in Karachi. They lived in Islamabad with their 18-month-old daughter Tayyaba. Abid, a computer engineer, works for a cellular company in the federal capital. Sobia herself had a postgraduate degree in Computer Sciences from DI Khan’s Gomal University. Riffatullah requested Abid and his father to allow them to bury his daughter and granddaughter in DI Khan. “I wanted to be able to visit their graves easily,” he explained. “God bless them..  Abid and his father agreed to it,” Sibghatullah said.

The bodies will be buried in Kutchery Graveyard in DI Khan on Sunday at 8am.

Swabi grieves

Meanwhile, hundreds of Swabi residents gathered on Saturday to say the final goodbye to a resident who died in Friday’s Bhoja Air plane crash.

Rakhshanda, who hailed from Inayatkhel area of Swabi, was on her way to Islamabad from Karachi where she and her husband Izhar Ahmed had gone to meet family.

Rakhshanda’s brother Muhammad Yousaf identified her body at Islamabad’s Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and brought it to Swabi. Her husband Izhar, who works in Dubai, cancelled his flight to UAE and immediately came to Islamabad after hearing the news of the plane crash.

Family members told The Express Tribune that Rakhshanda and Izhar had married five years ago. Izhar was to leave for Dubai from Karachi the same day his wife was travelling to Islamabad. He asked his father and brother to receive Rakhshanda at Islamabad. The men were waiting at the airport when they heard the news of the crash. They immediately called Yousaf to Islamabad.

The funeral prayers were said at the main cricket ground in Swabi city at 2pm.

(With additional reporting by our correspondent in Swabi)

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Bhoja Air Tragedy: PIA charging air fare for transporting bodies</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368254/bhoja-air-tragedy-pia-charging-air-fare-for-transporting-bodies</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368254/bhoja-air-tragedy-pia-charging-air-fare-for-transporting-bodies#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 03:55:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368254</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Some heirs told media that they were being charged Rs12,000 for each dead body.]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan International Airlines has charged Rs12,000 as the fare for carrying the Bhoja Air crash victims’ bodies, despite clear directives from President Asif Ali Zardari that the national air carrier should provide the service free of charge.


Some of the heirs of those who lost their lives in the accident told media that they were being charged Rs12,000 for each dead body.

Following these reports, the president took notice of the matterMeanwhile, Defense Minister  Chaudhry ahmed Mukhtar said that though the air craft was 27 years old but it was being maintained.

He said if an aircraft is in good condition, being old should not be a problem. He said that the average age of PIA crafts is 22 years.

He said that checking the standard of the aircraft is the airline’s responsibility, not that of the Civil Avilation Authority. (SANA NEWS WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT)

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Analysis: The questions after the trauma</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368247/analysis-the-questions-after-the-trauma</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368247/analysis-the-questions-after-the-trauma#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 03:49:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[tariq.ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368247</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[And after the questions, some hard facts will have to be swallowed, and actions taken.]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[As relatives of 127 unfortunate souls who perished on board Bhoja Air flight B213 collect the mortal remains of their loved ones amidst cries of agony and despair, and the nation comes to terms with yet another tragedy, a number of painful questions will arise.

And after the questions, some hard facts will have to be swallowed, and actions taken.

Above all others will be questions not only about the organisation itself but also the authorities that regulate them.

What prompted CAA to grant Bhoja Air permission to resume operations in March 2012 after they had suspended all flight operations in 2001?

What cannot be ignored is the frequency of accidents and air crashes involving Pakistan registered aircraft, or foreign aircrafts within Pakistan airspace, such as the Russian Cargo aircraft that crashed in Karachi recently. Incidents such as these have risen sharply and point to serious flaws in regulatory controls and monitoring of airline operators.

It is not only us, but the world that is watching and listening. Pakistan’s aviation industry is already under strict monitoring by international regulators and authorities and may face censures that will sound its death knell.

There is no escaping from realising what needs to be done.

Concrete structural changes, not half-hearted superficial measures, must be incorporated to make CAA free from political interference and also to prevent it becoming a dumping ground for retired uniformed officers.

Commercial aviation is not a joke.

It is a highly-regulated service-oriented industry, which must work in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations, aircraft manufacturer specifications, state of registry regulatory authority and regulatory controls of countries that airlines land in or overfly, while satisfying passenger requirements at competitive fare structures and maintain published schedules.

The smallest details matter, and must be recorded.

Air crashes occur when a combination of technical defects occur simultaneously accompanied with, or without, human pilot error and/or external natural phenomenon such as weather, or/and malfunction of ground navigation aids and air traffic control.  ICAO requires its member countries to put in place an independent regulatory authority, free from political and administrative controls of the executive, having employed fully qualified experts with experience in all fields of aviation on the specific type of aircrafts that are flown by airline under their control.

How does our CAA measure up in this regard?

While its primary task is to enforce strict regulatory controls to ensure that flight safety is not compromised, CAA Pakistan is perhaps the sole state-owned corporation running profitably.

Unfortunately, its financial success and vast revenues have become its biggest curse. It has seen merit rubbished and political appointments by the defence ministry flourish– the most recent example of which is the appointment of the Chief Financial Officer, who is a close relative of a powerful political VVIP of this country.

CAA’s primary function of an aviation regulator has been overridden by its corporate interests. It owns and runs airports as well as all navigational aids installed at airports and along air routes and employs all personnel that monitor, control and operate them. It not only regulates the system – it owns it.

In addition, it is under administrative control of the defence secretary, who, in turn, reports to the defence minister and the prime minister.

With this in mind, if any of its functionaries or its equipment falters, and contributes to an accident or a crash, can we expect no conflict of interest? Can we expect a fair investigation?

The Accident Investigation Committee reports to ministry of defence or CAA.  Only an independent committee, free of administrative control by the ministry of defence can carry out a fair investigation, apportion blame and suggest remedial measures to ensure that mishaps are avoided by all.

The particular case of Bhoja Air is a case in point. The airline sought permission for renewal of its Airline Operators Certificate in November 2011. CAA was supposed to carry out assessments of their infrastructure required for fulfilling all legal requirements for grant of permission – such as a fleet of at least three airworthy aircrafts with one fully serviceable standby aircraft, necessary maintenance facilities and finances to bear all operating costs and capacity to handle any emergency situation, procurement of spares etc.

As per the rules, all such requirements must be met before approval is granted.

It is a rigorous process – particularly for an airline that already has a questionable background.

Never mind anything else, Bhoja Air was unable even to simply transport relatives from Islamabad to Karachi. It was PIA which offered to do this, since nobody was there to take responsibility.  If not Bhoja, then at least CAA, with its vast revenue and resources, should have borne this responsibility.

Who is responsible for obvious fast-tracking the return of Bhoja Air, before all formalities were completed?

Only this answer can give justice to the 127 dead and their loved ones.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2012.

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			<title>Bereft, relatives collect remains of loved ones</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368249/bereft-relatives-collect-remains-of-loved-ones</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/368249/bereft-relatives-collect-remains-of-loved-ones#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 12 03:48:24 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[sehrish.wasif]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=368249</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PIMS identifies and hands over 116 bodies of the air crash victims.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Their gaze fixed on the outpatient department door, their agony unimaginable.


Families of Bhoja Air crash victims spent Friday night on the grounds in front of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), waiting to collect the remains of their loved-ones.

Saturday morning, around 8am, the excruciating wait came to an end. Hospital authorities started handing over the victims’ remains.

Distraught relatives lined by the side, showering the coffins with rose petals.

Identifying the remains

Hospital authorities on Saturday handed over the remains of 116 bodies, out of 127 crash victims, to their families. The remains were identified with the help of facial recognition and the National Database and Registration Authority’s (NADRA) biometric system. Eleven victims remain unidentified.

According to Pims Joint Executive Administration Director Dr Altaf Hussain, the remains of the unidentified passengers are being tested for DNA matching, which will take six to seven days.

“Eight family members have given their blood for DNA,” Professor Mehmood Jamal, executive director of Pims, told The Express Tribune.

Tragic trail

One grief-stricken family came from Mansehra to collect the remains of five family members. “What should we say, our whole family has been eliminated in this incident,” said one of the relatives.

Khalid, who came to receive the remains of his father’s sister Hameeda, said she was travelling with her two daughters - Sadaf, 29, and Shazia, 24 - to Islamabad. “They had to be at the US Embassy in Islamabad on April 23 for a visa interview. Little did they know this would be their last journey,” he said.

Younas was another ill-fated passenger who was coming to Islamabad after performing Umrah. He missed two flights for various reasons and finally booked his seat on Bhoja Air.

Brigadier Javed Malik and his wife Abida were coming to see her father, who fractured his leg in a road accident in Islamabad earlier in the week. Their daughter also wanted to come along, but was not able to find a seat. One of their sons is studying in Australia and will reach on Sunday night for his parents’ burial.  “I do not know whether to consider their daughter lucky or unlucky,” said Tanveer, a ward boy at Pims.

Meanwhile the wife of Ghulam Farooq along with their four-year-old daughter was trying to locate her husband, whose body is still missing. Farooq was coming to take his family from Islamabad to Karachi, where he was working at State Life.

Boeing offers condolences, assistance

In a statement issued on their website, the aircraft manufacturer Boeing extended its condolences to the families and friends of those lost in the Bhoja Air accident and offered to provide assistance to Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan if needed.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2012.

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