Another PIA engine failure
PIA’s Flight PK308 landed back on Monday after take-off from Karachi with over 390 passengers on board.
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 4th, 2010.
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 4th, 2010.