Compliance with orders lands PIA pilots in trouble

LAHORE: The crew of PK-752, an Islamabad-bound flight from Oslo that had to land in Karachi owing to bad weather on July 20, is being investigated for allegedly violating the Air Safety Rules set out by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The crew have received notices from the CAA for violation of two rules in operating a second flight within a day and exceeding their duty time limit by more than six hours.

The Aviation industry sources told The Express Tribune that the crew, Capt Akeel Akhtar and First Officer T Usman, were convinced by PIA’s Flights Operation Department that a waiver had been obtained from the CAA for the same crew to fly the plane to Islamabad. Sources said that the pilots, who belonged to Karachi, had requested the Operations Department to arrange another crew but the department, faced with a shortage of staff, pressed them to operate the flight.

When the matter was brought into the CAA’s notice, which had not granted the waiver, it started an inquiry into the violation. “A breach of the Air Safety Rules has occurred and on the face of it the crew are guilty of operating two flights without CAA’s  written permission,” a CAA official said. Both the captain and his first officer, who offered a favour to the PIA and the passengers, have been left helpless by the airline to confront the CAA inquiry.

Syed Sultan Hasan, the PIA public relations general manager, was not available for comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2010.