Bhoja Air debacle

Letter January 30, 2015
CAA must also declare what steps it has taken to ensure no airline operator licensed by it fails to meet obligations

LAHORE: Ever since the VIPs of Pakistan started travelling on state or self-owned private jets, governments have shown their casual disregard towards the performance and flight safety of airlines regulated by the state. This has led to a rise in accidents, callous disregard for passenger convenience and frequent imposition of partial bans by the European Union and others. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has made public its report investigating the crash of the Bhoja Air aircraft that resulted in 127 fatalities. The CAA and the federal government must understand that the people of Pakistan, whose taxes fund the CAA, have the right to be satisfied with the performance of this regulatory authority.

Without going into the merits and demerits of the investigation, or professional competence of those at the helm of affairs in the CAA, if we are to accept the findings of this investigation at face value, questions arise about the remedial actions and punitive steps that the Authority has taken against those within its fold responsible for licencing the crew of the plane. Was it not the legal and moral obligation of the CAA to ensure that Bhoja Air had sufficient financial resources and insurance cover to compensate victims in case of an air crash? What legal and procedural steps has the CAA taken to ensure that the then Bhoja Air managing director is brought back to Pakistan to either face prosecution or ensure compensation for the next of kin of those 127 innocent souls who lost their lives?

The CAA report states that the pilot was not trained to handle advanced auto flight instruments installed on the B-737 aircraft he was flying, disregarding the fact that the CAA itself is responsible for licensing pilots, aircraft engineers, etc. and itself stands condemned by these lapses. The CAA must also declare what steps it has taken to ensure that no airline operator licensed by it fails to meet its obligations to passengers in future and that it has the capacity to perform its regulatory functions free from the influence of political or petty corporate interests of investors, through inbuilt self-auditing to prevent any conflict of interest.

Ali Malik Tariq

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2015.

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