PIA admin held responsible for 2 ATR accidents

National flag carrier bore a total loss of Rs20 million due to lack of professionalism

KARACHI:

The country’s top auditor has noted that the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) lost two of its Regional Transport Airline (ATR) aircraft due to its own negligence.

An ATR plane of the PIA met with an accident at the Karachi airport on November 24, 2018, causing a financial loss of Rs10.1398 million. The national flag carrier bore over Rs10.1398 loss after ATR-42 aircraft skidded off the runway while landing at the Gilgit airport on July 20, 2019.

Commenting on the incidents, the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) in its 2021-22 report held the PIA responsible for the loss. It said different reasons were cited for the plane accidents in the investigation report compiled by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

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The auditor said that the CAA noted that the accidents took place due to malfunctioning technical equipment required for maintenance, lack of professionalism in the airline’s maintenance crew, failure in the implementation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs), flawed decisions and the role of the first officer.

It said the inquiry conducted by the PIA administration had also mentioned mistakes of the pilots. The auditors directed the PIA to take disciplinary action against the responsible officials.—DNA