“The investigation of this crash may not take too long, as the landing gear was down and the plane crashed on a flat terrain… Its parts disintegrated over almost 4km, which will be easier to assemble and examine,” Yousafzai explained.
He added that the Black Box had been sent over to concerned authorities and its examination might take one month. “Depending on the type of the crash, the final result of the inquiry may take up to three months to one year.”
Ruling out the possibility of harsh weather being the cause of the crash, the DG explained that there are proper systems set up to predict the weather and warnings are issued if the weather is harsh.
“I heard the conversation [between the air control tower and the pilot] myself. The tower told the pilot that it was clear to land. The pilot acknowledged and pulled the landing gear down. But immediately after, the communication got lost and the plane started going into a dive,” he told the media. “What happened in this period needs to be investigated.”
He added that an Airblue flight landed at Islamabad airport around five minutes after the crash and it was “right behind the Bhoja plane”. The visibility was also till 4km, he said.
But the DG refrained from making any final comments on the crash. “There could be other reasons too… I won’t comment and I’ll request you all to refrain from commenting as well… Issuing a statement before the investigation completes can damage the outcome of the inquiry and affect the families of the victims.”
He announced that the investigation will be done on international standards, and Bhoja Air has been directed to issue compensation to the victims’ families at the earliest. “We will monitor their progress.”
When asked whether the CAA was put under political pressure to resume the functions of Bhoja Air, the DG said that the body ranks number 10 worldwide. “We, as a nation, have a culture of mud-slinging… Let me tell you that CAA does not compromise on security.”
He announced that out of 122 victims, bodies of 115 have been identified while the DNA test of 12 is in progress, and 113 bodies have been handed over to the families.
He thanked the government, agencies, the fire department and all other people involved in the rescue work. “I especially want to thank PIA and MD PIA for arranging a flight for the victims’ families and for announcing to carry the bodies free of cost.
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.
Bhoja Air’s aged B737-200 took off from Karachi airport at 5:05pm and crashed five nautical miles from Islamabad airport on the village of Hussainabad. However, rescuers said people on the ground remained largely safe as the bulk of the wreckage fell in an open area.
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COMMENTS (17)
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@Awais:
all commercial airplanes were made lightning proof in the late 60's when a lot of airliners were getting struck,
the plane had lightning protection. it was likely a microburst. there were warnings by MET department that the airport is a high risk fly zone. Plane should never have been given permission to land.
http://www.weather.gov.hk/aviat/amte/cause/microburste.htm
PIA free transportation of the remains requires the coffin to be sealed, a police chalaan, a death certificate, a proof that the body was of one of the passengers...and then...5500 rupees for some emergency flight charge...there goes the elaboration of the word FREE
@ Nadir, well if they did, they too deserve the thanks..its just that i didn't see any on the screen. as they say for the army that they die coz they are PAID for it i guess 1122 etc are there for the this very job! Army is the last resort when the govt fails in doing something, which as we always see its does all the time..this was a good time to give the soldiers a pat on the back when everyone is trying to vent their frustration against the govt's incompetence on these poor soldiers.
I think we need not to jump in to conclusions. But I would suggest an impartial inquiry and independent body to investigate the circumstances led to this accident. As per the available evidence the aircraft was on the instrument approach and the Co Pilot has made a call to the tower informing that the fuel tanks are burning and the aircraft is out of control. This can be due to a fuel tank explosion due to some reason which we need to investigate. Further, pilot has requested an emergency landing over the immediate surface below due to the above reason.
Therefore, I want to tell you that the room for pilot error can be ruled out at least for some presentage as the aircraft was on fire before the crash. The government of Pakistan must make every endeavor to do a proper investigation and find the cause/ causes and make immediate measures to avoid recurrence. Pakistan was a country where the civil aviation standards were very high and the most airlines in the region took PIA as a guideline to establish their esteemed airlines.
So do not give up. Do it properly and come out from there. May God Bless alll the victims and relatives of this unfortunate incident. ( Pilot SriLankan Airlines)
I think we need not to jump in to conclusions. But I would suggest an impartial inquiry and independent body to investigate the circumstances led to this accident. As per the available evidence the aircraft was on the instrument approach and the Co Pilot has made a call to the tower informing that the fuel tanks are burning and the aircraft is out of control. This can be due to a fuel tank explosion due to some reason which we need to investigate. Further, pilot has requested an emergency landing over the immediate surface below due to the above reason.
Therefore, I want to tell you that the room for pilot error can be ruled out at least for some presentage as the aircraft was on fire before the crash. The government of Pakistan must make every endeavor to do a proper investigation and find the cause/ causes and make immediate measures to avoid recurrence. Pakistan was a country where the civil aviation standards were very high and the most airlines in the region took PIA as a guideline to establish their esteemed airlines.
So do not give up. Do it properly and come out from there. May God Bless alll the victims and relatives of this unfortunate incident. ( Pilot SriLankan Airlines)
I hope it isn't another case of "rudder reversal" that plagud the 737s in the past
@Xcaret:
sadly that is true in about 70% of air accidents. But there are always contributing factors as well.
The buck stops with him/her. He/she is the commander and gets to wear those four gold stripes. But with that glamour and high-salary and perks, comes great responsibility.
What he is talking about? CAA is number 10 in the world for its state-of-art management systems and practices? For technical and safety standards implementation? Now I see why EU is threatening to close the operations of Pakistan's national airline. They could not understand the high standards by CAA.
Shame on DG CAA. It is cruel joke to do at this moment of national grief. We need to do investigations from internationally acclaimed Pakistani or foreign professional safety and aviation experts to identify the immediate and management/operational root causes for this incident.
very sad
Yup, just blame the pilot and be done with it.
@ DA CAA
This plane was 1984 model and most of the safety standards came in practice late 1980s. These standards include, lighting surge protection for plane electronics & for the fuel tank. How come this plane was allowed to fly in Pakistan's air space? Right money in right pockets?
an aircraft which was sold in scrap were in commercial use?
Probably all the authorites which were involved in giving fitness and permission to fly must have take illegal gratification from the owner of the aircraft Farooq Bhoja, who himself is also a scrap dealer.
@Ali: Why the rescue 1122 and fire-fighters and ambulances that got there well before the Army are not worthy of thanks?
may their soul rest in peace who died in accident. aur ALLAH inki family ko sabr de I am very sad very sad when i hear this news at 6:47 P.M
well i would like to thank Pak Army Soldiers too who reach the site on time and recovered those bodies..for a person sitting at a seat as important as DG CAA this very essential gratitude was not thing to omit. i'd say that in addition to "mud slinging culture" we also lack sense of proportionality and judgement too as a nation. which makes us forget who is doing good to us n who is doing otherwise...shame mr. DG. MAY ALLAH REST THOSE SOULS IN PEACE..