Trapped men: CAA DG finally shows up...only to say ‘they were already dead’
His conspicuous absence during tragedy of seven men trapped in cold storage that caved raised many questions.
A man showing a burned identity card of one the victims who died in the cold storage facility of Karachi airport. PHOTO: EXPRESS/MOHAMMAD AZEEM
KARACHI:
More than 32 hours after Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, was attacked, the director general of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Air Marshal (retd) Muhammad Yousuf, finally surfaced on Tuesday with his views on the crisis. But he didn’t have much to say.
His conspicuous absence during the tragedy of the seven men trapped in a cold storage that caved raised many questions.
“We think the terrorists might have killed the men before leaving them in the room,” Yousuf told news channels. “That is why they couldn’t escape.”
The fact that the man responsible for overseeing all aviation activity could only pass on the buck of the responsibility without even waiting to verify the facts reflects the endemic problem CAA suffers from.
Doctors who examined the bodies at JPMC say that none of the bodies bore any bullet marks.
Ironically, it was private social-welfare organisations instead of any government agency that came to rescue people stuck in the building located a show-throw distance away from the CAA Headquarters – where the DG sits.
Express News anchor Shahzeb Khanzada claimed, “The CAA DG was more interested in flight operations rather than the rescue operations.” Khanzada, said, “This can rightly be termed a CAA failure. Airport Security Forces (ASF) acted and responded very well on their part.”
The first piece of heavy machinery that reached the site to start the rescue work was sent by Bahria Town, he maintained.
The aviation regulator has worked under successive DGs since 2010. The office of the CAA DG saw at least five changes in last four years between three officials.
After Air Commodore (retd) Junaid Amin retired in late 2010, the then-ruling PPP installed Nadeem Khan Yousufzai as the CAA head.
Yousufzai’s appointment was controversial as he continued to serve as a senior pilot for PIA while heading the CAA.
Just a few months later in February 2011, Yousufzai went on to become the Managing Director of PIA and was replaced by Air Marshal (retd) Khalid Chaudhry.
The musical chairs continued. A year later, in March 2012, Yousufzai came back at the helm of affairs at CAA. But just seven months later, Chaudhry once again came to steer CAA.
Industry officials were hoping to see some autonomy and change in CAA after the PML-N government moved it from under the Ministry of Defence’s control to a newly created Aviation Division.
But the events, which unfolded during the last two days, suggest that aviation authorities still look towards Islamabad for directions.
Neither Yousuf nor CAA spokesman Abid Qaimkhani were available for comments.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2014.
More than 32 hours after Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, was attacked, the director general of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Air Marshal (retd) Muhammad Yousuf, finally surfaced on Tuesday with his views on the crisis. But he didn’t have much to say.
His conspicuous absence during the tragedy of the seven men trapped in a cold storage that caved raised many questions.
“We think the terrorists might have killed the men before leaving them in the room,” Yousuf told news channels. “That is why they couldn’t escape.”
The fact that the man responsible for overseeing all aviation activity could only pass on the buck of the responsibility without even waiting to verify the facts reflects the endemic problem CAA suffers from.
Doctors who examined the bodies at JPMC say that none of the bodies bore any bullet marks.
Ironically, it was private social-welfare organisations instead of any government agency that came to rescue people stuck in the building located a show-throw distance away from the CAA Headquarters – where the DG sits.
Express News anchor Shahzeb Khanzada claimed, “The CAA DG was more interested in flight operations rather than the rescue operations.” Khanzada, said, “This can rightly be termed a CAA failure. Airport Security Forces (ASF) acted and responded very well on their part.”
The first piece of heavy machinery that reached the site to start the rescue work was sent by Bahria Town, he maintained.
The aviation regulator has worked under successive DGs since 2010. The office of the CAA DG saw at least five changes in last four years between three officials.
After Air Commodore (retd) Junaid Amin retired in late 2010, the then-ruling PPP installed Nadeem Khan Yousufzai as the CAA head.
Yousufzai’s appointment was controversial as he continued to serve as a senior pilot for PIA while heading the CAA.
Just a few months later in February 2011, Yousufzai went on to become the Managing Director of PIA and was replaced by Air Marshal (retd) Khalid Chaudhry.
The musical chairs continued. A year later, in March 2012, Yousufzai came back at the helm of affairs at CAA. But just seven months later, Chaudhry once again came to steer CAA.
Industry officials were hoping to see some autonomy and change in CAA after the PML-N government moved it from under the Ministry of Defence’s control to a newly created Aviation Division.
But the events, which unfolded during the last two days, suggest that aviation authorities still look towards Islamabad for directions.
Neither Yousuf nor CAA spokesman Abid Qaimkhani were available for comments.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2014.