The regulatory body for commercial aviation is the Federal Aviation Administration
LAHORE: The rise in frequency of commercial aircraft, road and rail accidents with fatalities running into the thousands should have raised alarm bells. This status quo cannot proceed, where after every accident, stereotypical political statements are issued, promising to bring those responsible for any possible criminal negligence to justice. Although PIA is far better than other private airlines regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), it has witnessed continuous decline, which needs to be checked.
The primary responsibility of any regulator is to ensure that all airlines and charter companies meet standard minimum safety requirements and follow maintenance procedures. The crew that operates them should be professionally competent and medically and mentally fit, which can otherwise adversely impair their reflexes and handling of aircraft in abnormal and emergency situations. The partial ban imposed by the European Aviation Safety Agency in 2007 on PIA was subsequently withdrawn in November 2007. It was an indictment on the CAA because PIA, being the sole airline under its regulatory control, was operating into Europe. It was again blacklisted in November 2011 because it was rendered vulnerable for prioritised ramp inspection. All is not well with the working and regulatory control of Pakistan’s commercial aviation industry and this status quo should not be tolerated.
It is pertinent to note that the United States Air Force is amongst the best, well-trained and technologically advanced, much like the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). There exists a separate safety board comprising of experts in military aviation to investigate all incidents or accidents involving combat aircraft of various uniformed units, which are under administrative control of the Pentagon. All incidents and accidents involving commercial, private and chartered aircraft registered in the US are investigated by the National Transport Safety Board, which also investigates other types of transport accidents and incidents. The regulatory body for commercial aviation is the Federal Aviation Administration while individual airports are owned and operated by separate entities and are completely independent of each other. With all due respect to the PAF and other units of uniformed security services, the difference between commercial aviation, their training and expertise is as varied in our commercial transport aviation industry as the difference between a dentist and an oncologist.
Malik Tariq Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2016.
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