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2010 AirBlue crash: PHC orders government to suspend CAA chief
Director-general, defence secretary also issued contempt notices, told to appear in person on May 30.
Director-general, defence secretary also issued contempt notices, told to appear in person on May 30. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
PESHAWAR / KARACHI: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday issued orders to the federal government to suspend the director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
As hearing resumed into the petitions filed by relatives of AirBlue Crash 2010 victims, the court said that CAA DG Nadeem Khan Yousafzai must remain suspended until, in accordance with an earlier court order, an inquiry is completed by international experts into the AirBlue crash and then into the recent Bhoja Air crash.
Citing Section 3 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003, the court issued notices to Yousafzai and Defence Secretary Nargis Sethi for violating the court’s writ. They have been ordered to appear in person on May 30.
However, the court issued only a show-cause notice to Bhoja Air’s Managing Director Arshad Jalil, saying that since no representatives of the airline had appeared before the court, taking stricter action would not be correct.
An assistant to AirBlue Counsel Wasim Sajjad told the court that 107 of 152 affected families had been compensated and paid Rs5.5 million each.
However, a petitioner refuted the claim saying that he had presented all documents and certificates but was yet to receive any compensation.
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 withdraw all facilities.
CAA releases crash report
The investigation report on the Airblue plane that crashed into Margalla Hills on July 28, 2010 was released by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Wednesday.
According to data recovered from the black box, the aircraft’s captain had ignored the air traffic controller’s suggestions several times.
The report concluded that the crash was a case of Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT), in which aircrew failed to display superior judgment and professional skills in a self-created unsafe environment.
In their pursuit to land in inclement weather, they committed serious violations of procedures and breaches of flying discipline, which put the aircraft in an unsafe condition over dangerous terrain at low altitude.
The complete report can be viewed here.
Read more:
Airblue
Reader Comments (17)
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Bravo! the most appropriate action. This also needs to be done with the IG railways who yesterday was saying that the CCTV cameras and their security system were working fine.
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Contemp Notices have become sort of a fasion, and losing their importance. Yousefzai is recently appointed DG of CAA, and what he has to do with an accident happened in 2010.
Same goes with Nagis Sethi. Seems like some people want to satify their inner self by making higher officials begging before them. Imgine if Yousefzai has to leave his office in Karachi for Peshawar just to show his face for a few minuts only. How much is it going to cost in terms of money and time.
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yeah right !!! how come the court broke the record of keeping the verdict “mehfooz” ?
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Peshawar High Court has done the right thing.The Government is just not complying with orders of the Court
I am praying that Supreme Court also passes a tough order according to law so that in future no one dares to defy the orders of the Courts.
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I just wonder if the CAA and MOD are accountable to anyone??? It doesnt seem so…
Atleast the court is trying to move these white elephants a bit for the sake of the people of Pakistan.
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The report was available on CAA website since long, no one bothered to check!
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Pilot of AirBlue flew the plane into mountain, despite the fact that air controller warned him, that was arrogance on part of pilot and it cost him his life and he also took life of 152 people. Does pilot’s this act has anything to do with DG CAA or Secretary Defence? Pilot shows arrogance it cost peoples lives, if judges show arrogance, what will pay the cost? Judiciary itself and whole nation…. very sad.
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@Ozzie:
Absolutely correrct. And all they do here is complain that there is no report but better still the report is a “cover-up”.
Which such a severe indictment of the cockpit crew, and especially the captain, what is the “cover-up”?!
Not only did he ignore warnigs from ATC but he ignored warnigs from his on-board systems of terrain directly in the path of the aircraft. 17 warnings in the last 40 seconds of flight.
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This was already known that CAA would put all blame and responsibility on dead pilot, dead people can’t fight back for their case, this will also be done in case of Bhoja Air, it’s all fault of pilot sahib!
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strong textOur superior courts are engaged in a relentless struggle to increase their turf and importance. In the process all other state institutions are being destroyed or emasculated. If this process continues any further, we will be left with no option but to be faced by another long military rule. God save us from that! We might perhaps live to see the day when we begin to regret having restored these judges.
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Why does a court have the authority to fire/suspend anyone without so much as an investigation? Your courts are continuing their practice of trying to do the job of the executive branch – they might get public approval because your executive branch is corrupt and inept but that doesn’t make the Judiciary the proper venue to address this type of issue. You want change — use the ballot box.
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@Cautious:
the ballot box is more often than not tainted.
we need sharia law. fear of death can fix corruption. nothing more nothing less.
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@Hakeem,
my dear friend, its not about blame, they dont come up with the person who is responsible, they analyze the CVR and FDR and it was sent to Europe to de crypt it as it cant be done in Pakistan, pls read the report on CAA website. The issue is in Pakistan we dont have an independent body like NTSB in USA so people doubt everything which comes out. There are always sincere people who do their work with dedication and we should not blame someone without any proof.
I request you to read the report and you will see its based on what information they got from Systems installed in the aircraft plus voice recordings which are all timestamped and it cant be manipulated just like that.
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A case of court over-stepping its boundaries without any investigation whatsoever. There is no direct complicity of the DGCAA in AirBlue crash, I wonder if he’s being targeted just because he holds a high position.
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@Hakeem:
Unfortunately the statistics show that “dead pilots” are 70% responsible for dead passengers. Those are the facts that cannot be disputed despite what pilot’s unions say. Of course, since an accident is a chain of events, there are many contributory factors. But the buck stops with the left hand seat.
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How come this Conversations Report between the Air Traffic Controllers and the Captain and between the Captain and his crew was never published before? Possibly it ran against the presumption of by the masses based on hear say and political opinions
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The report was available on the website of CAA, ONLY after PHC ordered it to make it surface. Ever wonder, why in Pakistan’s 65 year history and almost 45 – 50 aircraft incidents and accidents later, NEVER EVER any report has been made public? Its bravo to the AirBlue Crash Affectees Group who took this matter of investigation to the court and are fighting tooth and nail to make Pakistani Skies Safer for none other than the people who are reading this. Its also important to note that the same report which was submitted to PHC on Dec 20, 2011 (forcefully after 17 months after the crash), was completely and categorically rejected by PHC as incomplete, inconclusive and with malafide intent. Please refer PHC rulings of Jan, Feb, March and now April. Its venomous of CAA to ‘release’ the rejected report to media on the eve of April 24 to mould public opinion who are not in picture of PHC happenings. It might be interesting to note that the report does not have any authentic transcript of Black box, CVR and is not even signed by any one let alone provide any proper proof then building the case against the Pilot from page 1.
The suspension is not of Mr. Yousufzai, its of the DG CAA, head of an imp organisation who cannot escape responsibility from 4 plane crashes in 20 months. (AirBlue, JS Air, Russian Cargo plane and now Bhoja). Had the DG CAA taken any heed from the AirBlue crash and learnt a lesson or two, he might be still in his seat.
Its common knowledge that CAA has become one of the biggest corruption laden deptt and the rot starts from the head. The head has to roll in order to cleanse the mess. Its also known now that CAA safety inspector Capt Shafqat has been flying AirBlue planes on his private ‘moonlighting’ trips. How can a regulator (CAA) allow its staff to fly a private sirliner is anybody’s guess.
Junaid Hamid
AirBlue Crash Affectees Group.
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