Air Blue crash: CAA brought under purview of Cabinet Division

Aviation authority’s legal advisor says faults highlighted by experts being addressed.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) was informed on Wednesday that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) now falls under the Cabinet Division, while the Safety Investigation Board – earlier under the CAA – has been made an independent body.

During a hearing of the Air Blue crash, CAA’s legal advisor Obaidur Rehman Abbasi told a bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Qaiser Rasheed various faults of the authority highlighted in a report by foreign aviation experts were being removed, which will improve its performance.

Justice Khan maintained since the government had just taken charge, the court will give it some time to figure out how to bring improvements in the aviation body.

Umer Adam, counsel for petitioner Marvi Memon, was unable to attend the hearing. Adam’s assistant informed the bench about the counsel’s inability to appear in court, following which the hearing was adjourned.

An Air Blue flight crashed in the Margalla Hills in Islamabad on July 28, 2010, killing all 152 people on board.

Consequently, the PHC ordered Air Blue to provide financial compensation to the families of the victims and also issued directives to investigate the incident under the supervision of foreign experts.

The CAA released its report on April 24, 2012 claiming the flight’s captain, Parvez Iqbal, ignored suggestions of the air traffic controller many times. The tone of the captain was also condescending and inappropriate, added the report.

The investigation report was presented before the PHC in March, with the CAA admitting the pilot and air traffic controller were responsible for the incident. It revealed the air traffic controller was inexperienced in managing such situations.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2013.