Role of the CAA

LAHORE: This is with reference to your coverage of the Airblue crash and Meekal Ahmed’s column “Was it pilot error?” (July 30). As far as PIA, the national airline, is concerned, it has more than the required number of pilots on its payroll as compared to the number of airworthy aircraft in use. The self-created shortages on aircraft that fly overseas results in increase of allowances to the senior pilots. Everybody knows the names of pilots who wield political pressure and lack professional ethics within the CAA, which is instrumental in playing with lives of the travelling public.

Pilots above 60 years are being utilised all over the world for flying cargo fleets or on chartered flights, but they are subjected to strict medical and psychological evaluation before being allowed to do so. As far as the CAA is concerned, as Mr Ahmed rightly pointed out, no air investigation report has ever been made public, which proves the level of professional ethics and independence of this regulatory body. It is lack of financial discipline and pilferages within PIA which leads to compromises on maintenance and passenger safety. Accident investigations involving Pakistani registered aircraft will expose the peculiar problems that might play a role in leading to the accident involving human errors, which can prevent future accidents.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2010.