Pakistan

Another PIA engine failure

PIA’s Flight PK308 landed back on Monday after take-off from Karachi with over 390 passengers on board.

Express August 04, 2010

KARACHI: PIA’s Flight PK308 landed back on Monday after take-off from Karachi with over 390 passengers on board after its engine No. 3 experienced severe vibrations near Nawabshah, forcing the pilot to recall the flight.

What makes this incident more worrisome is that this is the same aircraft that had a two-engine failure on July 30.

The Boeing 747-300, with registration AP BGG, had a two-engine failure on July 30 while on the take-off run at Karachi which was aborted after the same engine No. 3 developed severe vibrations with a warning and its temperature shot up above the limit of 800 degrees celsius.

At the time, the cause was established to be a bird hit. But at almost the same time, engine No. 1 had a stall with engine oil pressure warning and engine parameters reported to be indicating zero rotation by the crew while the ATC had observed smoke coming out.

An airline that is already reeling from heavy losses due to a go-slow protest by pilots is now facing another headache due to the poor condition of its aircraft.

The bird hit was unfortunate. It is the responsibilty of the Civil Aviation Authority to ensure that the runway, both the take-off and approach paths, are clear of any birds.

Bird hazards today pose a great danger to aircraft operating out of Pakistan at almost all the major airfields like Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The only exception is Sialkot Airport, which is privately owned and operated.

It has no bird hazard, because its owners have strictly forbidden private houses from being built near its periphery.

Coming back to AP-BGG, this aircraft has a history of repeated engine defects. Aviation experts are perturbed over the alarming incidents of technical failures in PIA, which should raise alarm bells before a serious incident or accident occurs. On July 28, the day of the fatal A321 crash at Islamabad, this aircraft (AP-BGG) had severe vibrations on engine no 2 while flying from Karachi to Lahore at 36,000 feet. The engine was shut down and the aircraft landed back.

On June 29, PK312 operated by the same aircraft had severe engine vibrations at 35,000 feet on engine no 3. On June 30, engine no 3 of another Boeing 747 AP-BFU had an engine stall during take-off roll which was aborted. It is a mind boggling list of alarming incidents which point out to poor maintenance and overhauling.

The CAA’s AID, which oversees engineering and maintenance of aircraft registered in Pakistan, seem to be sleeping or unaware of what is happening.

The Airblue crash should have resulted in more vigilance and strict regulatory controls, instead of the lax attitude being displayed by the regulators. It should have been embarrassing for the CAA that its investigators had to wait for Airbus’ team of engineers who helped them locate the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder within an hour of their arrival at the crash site, where the tail section debris was located.

This newspaper had pointed out in its report that the flight data recorder will be found where the tail is, because that is where it is securely installed. There have been over eight engine failures on PIA’s Boeing 747 fleet during the last two months, which is an unacceptably high failure rate.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2010.

COMMENTS (17)

aviator | 13 years ago | Reply Yet another poorly researched article by this Author, which was quite surprising as his piece on the Airblue flight was probably the best one amongst the local media. Firstly the aircraft in question AP-BGG never had a "two engine failure". It has had several engine issues in recent months, however this is purely chance as the aircraft has had a trouble free operation since it was inducted in the late 90's. World over the Rolls Royce engines on these aircraft have a reputation for being troublesome and finicky engines and must be treated with extra care as compared to the more robust american engines, however shutting down one engine due to vibrations or for that matter any other reason is not an emergency on an aircraft like the Boeing 747. It is however an inconvenience to the passengers and a nuisance to the airline and surely the airline is doing its best to sort the matter out. After the first 2 incidents the engine was changed and a new one put on, however as luck had it that developed a completely different problem, possibly due to a fault in the overhauling process which is performed by a official overhauling agent. As far as birds go, there is really nothing that can be done about them, other than some preventive measures which are taken but have little effect, and as was seen in last years hudson river miracle, it happens everywhere. It was however amusing to see the authors comments on Sialkots privately owned airport which magically doesnt have any birds due to the owners not allowing houses to be built nearby. Obviously the author has never seen the airport in question, as there are houses very near to this airport. Furthermore houses do very little to attract birds, it is more down to rubbish and edible items in the area which contribute and in our country that can be found everywhere. The author is rather proud to show off how he pointed out where the flight data recorder would be found. Ironicaly a simple google search, or any aircraft knowledge would tell you that. Furthermore he believes that 8 engine failures are an unacceptably high rate, however in his article he only recounts 5, one of which wa s a bird hit (is that counted as an engine failure too?) and 2 were precautionary shutdowns. And what is an acceptable rate of engine failure? Perhaps its time this paper got itself a new aviation expert. Possibly this time someone who really knows something about aviation, and doesnt just rely on hearsay!

Ali | 13 years ago | Reply Privatise it! when they have to earn their way in the world and not rely on govt. handouts only then will they sort themselves out!

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Meekal Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply @Shezad, I agree with you on the CAA. I disagree on the medical thing. We have very competent doctors and some very good (private) facilities. I can only presume (and hope) that the health of our air-crew is checked out every six months as per international norms. If they pass their medical and recurrent training on the flight simulator (where they are thrown all kinds of emergencies), then they are fit to fly. Do some people slip under the radar? Do some doctors go easy? Give the guy a break? I am sure that happens and it happens everywhere. But by and large I think the system works. This pushing the age limit was a controversial one. There are people in the profession that pointed to the risks. But there are huge benefits as well. The age 60 with modern medications/treatment is nothing. You are still YOUNG at 60 and all that experience counts -- especially in an emergency. You just have to pair the crew correctly. Have a younger man/woman as the co-pilot. That's what we have in the Airblue case. No, I am not casual about the engine problems. It is disconcerting. But on a four-engine jet, you are perfectly safe. The twin-engine aircraft can fly on one engine easily. It is certified to do so. In the 777 if one engine fails the rudder automatically corrects for the adverse yaw caused by asymetric power. The pilot does not have to do it!

Shahzad | 13 years ago | Reply Mr Meekal does not seem to be disturbed by the fact that this aircraft has had three problems in the last seven days involving engine failures. On 28 July the same aircraft had two engine failures on the take off roll. Eight engine failures, (excluding the current ones)- on the N747 fleet in two months points to serious maintenance problems. These are Rolls Royce engines, which PIA does not have the capability to overhaul, just like the other engines on its fleet, which are sent for overhaul to foreign Maint Repair overhaul firms. There was a time when PIA overhauled all its engines and had a good track record of safety. It is the curse of commissions and kickbacks that dictates the choice of vendors, which is what is leading to rise in engine failures. Other airlines do the same, but it is their civil aviation regulatory bodies strict controls which prevent irregularities. What Pakistan lacks is strict regulatory control in aviation. For that you need an independent CAA, which has abundant financial funds, but not the specialised commercial aviation regulators. Does Mr Meekal think that the medical facilities and research in Pakistan are adequate and comparabale to USA or Europe, for the grant of waiver to pilots to fly beyond 60 years. Countries like France or Italy do not allow their pilots to fly their own registered civil commerical passenger flights beyond age of superannuation. Our CAA lacks expertise because it has become a dumping ground for retired khakis, bureaucrats and political recommendees.

Meekal Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply An engine failure on a FOUR-engined aircraft is not even considered an emergency -- but a good by-line in the press! If you experience vibrations -- and there are instruments that monitor engine vibrations -- you retard the throttle on the offending engine and shut her down. If you do not need to dump fuel, you land. That is what you are paid lacks for. A three-engine landing. Inconvenience for many passengers but no safety issue involved.

Thinker | 13 years ago | Reply Is there going to be any good news at all? Or should I really lose my temper now?

mehdi shahi | 13 years ago | Reply AS we all know our national carrier was founded by QAID-E-AZAM MUAMMAD ALI JINNAH and MR M.A ISPHANI IN 1955 established this air line which is known PIA our flag carrier.First B-747 was purchased in 1979 and 5 or 6 B-747 were purchased later on.It is claimed that B-747 long haul 4 ENGG air craft is the safest aircraft,first of all the air crafts are very old and civil aviation allow birds to move on runways.it is civil aviation ppl must look for and hunt the birds around runways to prevent bird hits incidents.also heard replacement process is on B-777 are being in fleet. we Pakistani must be optimistic about our national carrier.

Shahryar Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply Imran, Please look at the facts before speaking. During Musharraf era each and every economic indicator was positive consistently. I know his did make a few mistakes (A FEW) but overall his time was much better than nowadays. One more thing, I am sure no person (even TV jokers) can say that he was corrupt, he did not make Places in UK, Span & France or have prime property in UK (Flats in Park Lane) or have weddings of his kin in Atlantis. He is a decent man with good intentions for Pakistan & that earned him respect by almost every leader in the world. PIA decline started during Zia's time & from then on it was on the decline due to incompetent and corrupt managers. Unfortunately, even during Musharraf's time and incompetent person was at the helm of PIA. PIA is a case study of PURE MISMANAMENT.

Syed A. Mateen | 13 years ago | Reply Inspection of all aircrafts beloging to the private airlines or the national carier should be conducted by a reputable foreign company who should issue a certificate about the aircraft's age and its functioning. Any aircraft which is not fit to fly should be scrapped at Shershah without any further delay.

Saleem Kirla | 13 years ago | Reply @Imran: Are you serious?! PIA's been losing money for decades and its troubles are structural and not rooted in the policies of any one regime. I'm no fan of Musharraf, but think before you say something like that. For folks like you, it seems everything that's wrong in the world is a result of "wrong policies of Mush era."

SadafFayyaz | 13 years ago | Reply The level of dedication and commitment is gone... whether doctors enginners, hospitals, or aviation or teaching, u find less committed people in each sector.....

Imran | 13 years ago | Reply For Mush lover... Don't you think these are results of wrong policies of Mush era.

Muneeb | 13 years ago | Reply very bad....those 40 years (i think so) old flying coffins...

Zeeshan Swalaheen | 13 years ago | Reply Oh God. I feel pity for those who travel in PIA. it should be now something like this after you have landed. 'Perhaps I Arrived' (PIA). ha ha...lolz Regards, Zeeshan Swalaheen.

Faisal | 13 years ago | Reply May God save this Pakistani Airline. I don't know whats wrong with the management. Don't they get paid? Don't they have allowances? What else they want. I'm sure media is right and the national airline is flooded with corrupt staff at lower, middle and senior level posts.

Yousaf | 13 years ago | Reply All Government Institutions are corrupted & lazy... bring Musharraf back..he will buy you plenty of new planes, trust me.

Saleem Kirla | 13 years ago | Reply The technical advisors from Airbus arrived the day after the crash and could visit the site only on Friday when the weather improved. Pakistani SAR teams had identified the part of the assembly that housed the FDRs, but wanted to ensure that experts retrieved them to prevent any damage. Further, debris had to be removed and some metal had to be cut through for retrieval. This article implies that the Airbus team "found" the FDRs within an hour of arrival, which is incorrect, misleading and insulting to the teams that were tasked with locating and recovering the FDRs. Had the weather and terrain not been so adverse, SAR teams would have located it earlier. (Disclaimer: I am simply an aviation enthusiast, and have no affiliation with Airblue, CAA or Airbus.)

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