Lahore crash-landing: ATC sends Shaheen Air pilot on 7-day remand

Pilot's counsel claims CAA is trying to save the airline by making the pilot a scapegoat

LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore handed over on Tuesday the pilot of Shaheen Air aircraft which crash-landed earlier this month to police on a seven-day physical remand for investigation.

The ATC judge asked the concerned investigation officer to justify insertion of terrorism charges in the FIR against Captain Asmat Mehmood on the next date of hearing, sources said.



A counsel for Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) argued that the accused had jeopardised lives of 120 people on-board the aircraft.

“He was drunk and he might have hit the plane into some building which could have lost lives of passengers as well as other people,” he said, adding the accused might be a member of a terrorist organisation and it is necessary to keep him under investigation.

However, Mehmood’s counsel told the court that his client was not drunk and he saved the lives of all the passengers who later termed him a hero. “The CAA is trying to save the skin of the airline by making the pilot a scapegoat.”

After hearing arguments of both the sides, the ATC judge sent the accused pilot on a physical remand for seven days.

An FIR against Mehmood was earlier registered in Sarwar Road police station on the complaint of Duty Terminal Manager Muahmamd Sabeel, an official of the CAA.



Last week, the CAA had accused Mehmood of being under the influence of alcohol while flying. “The allowed blood alcohol concentration level for pilots is 0.03, but the [flight NL-142] pilot’s was 0.83 at the time [of the crash],” a CAA official said.

On November 3, flight NL-142, carrying 121 passengers and crew, made an ‘emergency landing’ at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport. It touched down heavily causing its tyre to burst and skid off the runway. While there were no casualties, at least 10 passengers suffered minor injuries as luggage in the overhead bins fell on them.