The PIA management and the CAA need to give justification for their decisions to hire on contract pilots from outside
PESHAWAR: This is with reference to a notice by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announcing compensation of five million rupees to the next of kin of those who perished in the ill-fated PK661 crash. PIA and other private airlines regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) charge fares from passengers comparable with those existing in the region and internationally. Yet, why is insurance coverage so much lower for those travelling on Pakistani airlines? The irony is that a PIA pilot’s salary, most of it tax free, is comparable with that being paid to others in the region.
Ever since political cronies have headed PIA and the CAA, there has been a rise in incidents and accidents within our airspace. Numerous complaints and allegations have surfaced, of irregularities in recruitment of pilots and engineers and in rare cases, when an investigation report was issued, no punitive action was taken against culprits. This amounts to criminality on the part of those involved in irregularities and compromises in recruitment. Even after it was revealed that over 250 fake degree holders were recruited between 2008-12, they continued to be on payrolls while PIA, by default, has failed to get stay orders vacated.
How can the secretary of aviation, holding charge of the chairman of PIA and executive head of the CAA brief the Senate committee that there are no conclusive findings based on data from the black box, when this digital flight data recorder is still being probed by experts in France? Is this not misleading the Senate Committee? Why should this gentleman issue such a statement, not based on facts?
There exists a tape recording of the conversation between the pilot of PK661 and the air traffic controller where even after the first mayday call there seems to be no sense of emergency by the controller to expedite direct landing, directing other aircraft to hold for 15 minutes or more as is done by them frequently to give priority landings to VIP aircraft. On what basis does the secretary of aviation imply that the pilot made no effort to land quickly when neither the cockpit voice recorder nor the black box findings are available? The PIA management and the CAA need to give justification for their decisions to hire on contract pilots from outside and internally for operating the ATR plane by a management dominated by those on LPR.
Gul Zaman
Published in The Express Tribune, January 23rd, 2017.
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