This is with reference to the tragic crash of a Cessna 150 into a house in Lahore’s Model Town on February 23.
LAHORE: This is with reference to the tragic crash of a Cessna 150 into a house in Lahore’s Model Town on February 23 in which both the pilot and a trainee pilot lost their lives. Perhaps, the time has come for the Civil Aviation Authority to revise the minimum educational qualifications that it has laid down for trainee commercial pilots. By raising this, an attempt could be made to also increase the level of maturity of the average trainee. Such revisions have taken place in many countries in the world and there is no reason that this shouldn’t be done in Pakistan either.
When Walton and Lahore airports were constructed, they were located far away from city at that time and were not close to any highly inhabited congested areas. That has now changed and hence, the criteria set for the qualification of pilots must be reviewed. There was a vast area towards east of Walton, which now comprises of Defence Housing Authority and it is thickly populated. These developments also give rise to increasing bird populations, which if close to airports can create problems for aircrafts while landing and taking off. The CAA needs to look into this matter as well.
Tassadaq Mir
Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2012.
