Tragedy on Margalla Hills (II)

CHANTILLY, VA, US: What happened on the morning of July 28 is very tragic.

May I try and put some perspective on this. If you are using Runway 12 (the Murree Road side) there is no ILS (instrument landing system) in place. The ILS is on Runway 30 (the opposite side). So the procedure (which I never thought was safe) is you fly the ILS to Runway 30, break off, turn right and fly parallel to the Margalla Hills and then turn back in and land on Runway 12. It’s not a circle but more of a race-track pattern.

You may ask why not have the aircraft turn left rather than right towards the Margalla Hills. The reason is that on the left of Runway 30 is Dhamial Air Base, GHQ and so on and as far as I remember that is all “restricted” airspace. You cannot fly over it. This is a CFIT (Controlled Flight Into Terrain).

My final point is that when you are flying parallel to the Margalla Hills, you are required to keep the airport on your left in sight. I can visualise the captain in the left seat looking left. Maybe the flight officer was flying and craning his neck too. They seem to have just drifted into the Margalla Hills — perhaps because of high winds. They lost what is called “situational awareness”. Basically they did not know where they were.

May those who perished rest in eternal peace.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2010.