PIA maintenance standards called into question

Back-to-­back incidents of aircraft engine failure over the past two weeks have experts worried.

The back-to-back incidents of aircraft engine failure over the past two weeks have prompted aviation experts to call into question PIA’s maintenance standards.

However, both the national flag carrier and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) insist that the incidents were caused by bird strikes, with no maintenance issue whatsoever.

On Aug 9, a PIA B-747 carrying 430 passengers from  Karachi to Jeddah experienced engine failure during takeoff at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi.

The incident involved a Boeing 747-300 (registration AP-BGG), which experienced ‘severe vibrations’ in its engine number 2 just before it reached critical takeoff speed. The aircraft was stopped on the runway and the flight was delayed for over eight hours.

PIA’s spokesperson Sultan Hassan said that the high rate of engine failure was not caused because of any maintenance issue, but by birds hitting aircraft engines. Mr Hasan said that Flight PK-7305 aborted its take-off because of engine vibration. He said that the engine was inspected and no problem was found.

Since July 28 this year, this is the fourth such incident involving the same type of aircraft with the same problem.

On July 28, an engine failure was reported during a flight at 36,000 feet.  On July 30, two engine failures were reported during takeoffs at the Karachi airport, and on August 2, another engine failure was reported at Karachi.

The PIA spokesperson said that more birds descended in areas near the airport during the rainy season, increasing the probability of hitting aircraft.

Aviation experts, however, disagree. They say that the rate of engine failure is “unacceptably high”. They said that airlines experiencing shaky financial conditions can “sometimes compromise on maintenance matters” which could have a negative impact on flight safety.

The CAA spokesperson, Pervaiz George, said that the authority’s code of conduct “is strict” and that the said incidents occurred because of “machine failure”.

When asked about old planes being used by PIA, he said: “No aircraft is too old to fly if its parts are being replaced regularly.” George added that the CAA carries out its own inspections after every minor incident, including engine failures.The Boeing 747s being used by PIA are over 25 years old.

Around 280 accidents related to engine failure have been reported since 1990, and the CAA needs to take notice of this alarming situation.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2010.