Bhoja air crash: CAA experts invited to US for investigations

Officials say US experts, after retrieving information from the plane’s black box, handed the findings to CAA.

ISLAMABAD:

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) experts, who were visiting Pakistan to assist CAA officials investigating the April 20 crash of Bhoja Air Flight 213, asked Pakistani investigators to travel to the US with the plane’s cockpit voice recorder and Flight Data Record for analysis. 

The NTSB team, on a five-day visit to Pakistan, left for the US on Sunday, said an official statement issued by US Embassy in Pakistan. Officials associated with the investigators said the US experts, after retrieving information from the plane’s black box, handed the findings to CAA.

These findings show that airport officials did not inform the pilot of the aircraft’s low altitude which caused it to crash, said an official.  As the plane approached Benazir International Airport for landing, its altitude was an alarming 2000 feet compared to the 2800 feet considered safe for landing, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2012.