Bhoja air crash report

Three years after the crash of Bhoja Air flight BHO-213, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has finally released its report into a tragedy that cost 127 lives. Details of some of the findings were published in this newspaper a year ago, and the release of the full report fleshes out the framework of events that contributed to the crash, and expose a number of deficits not least in the CAA itself. Foremost among those is that the pilots of the Boeing 737-236a had not been trained on the type by the airline, a fact that apparently escaped the notice of the CAA and represents a severe act of negligence on its part. The crew had inadequate flying experience for the type and had not had any simulator training to prepare themselves. They were not familiar with the management of an automated flight deck in extreme adverse weather conditions, and this was a further contributory factor.

The crash of Bhoja Air flight BHO-213 should never have happened, and was entirely preventable. There was no mechanical failure, the aircraft performed exactly as it was supposed to and the fault is evidentially in the human chain that is deficient, lethally so, from top to bottom.

The CAA should have picked up that the crew was not appropriately trained, and whoever rostered the crew would have been aware of that as well. The crew themselves could — should — have said they were not certified for the type and refused to fly and did not, and the captain should not have pressed on with the landing and diverted. Bhoja Air had provided incorrect information to the CAA about automated flight deck training — which may partially but not wholly exonerate the CAA in this case. The report is a catalogue of corporate, institutional and individual failure at every level and should serve as the starkest of warnings for all engaged in the business of commercial flying in Pakistan. There are no shortcuts to safety; there can be no economies of ‘best practice’ as has often been the case in this country. In this particular case, 127 lives were needlessly lost.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd,  2015.

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