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Thursday March 28, 2024

Damage to wing made safe landing of plane impossible: report

By Shahina Maqbool
December 10, 2016

Four bodies buried as process of identification goes on; bereaved families table five demands during protest at PIMS; PIA declares ATR flights ‘perfectly safe’

ISLAMABAD: In the preliminary report, it has been found that due to damage to a wing of the PIA ATR, its safe landing became impossible. On the other hand, the process of identification of dead bodies is on and four of these have been buried.

With placards and banners in hands, the families that lost their loved ones in the December 7 PIA crash made it clear on Friday that nothing short of four concrete measures by the government would pacify them.

Articulating their demands during a protest arranged on the premises of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the bereaved families demanded immediate resignation of the chairman and managing director of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), holding of a fair inquiry into the air accident by the Supreme Court, immediate discontinuation of ATR flights, doubling of compensation to them, and expeditious identification and handing over of dead bodies.

“This is criminal neglect,” wept the father of one of the victims on board the aircraft. Embodying pain, he added, “The nation will neither forgive nor forget those responsible for the death of so many precious lives.” Another protester remarked: “We will see to it that justice is done; we cannot allow a repeat of similar accidents in the future.”

The families also urged the government to expedite the process of DNA analysis for identification of the bodies. “How can you expect us to return to our homes and wait to be called back upon completion of the process? This is insane. You can never feel the hurt and pain that we are enduring. Every minute of every hour only increases the agony,” retorted one of the protesters in  hurt and pain that we are enduring. Every minute of every hour only increases the agony,” retorted one of the protestors in response to the hospital administration’s advice to return to their hometowns and wait to be called for collection of dead bodies.

Meanwhile, a sorry state of affairs was evident at the Rawat cold storage, where all unidentified dead bodies were shifted Thursday night. Shah Fahad Khan, brother of passenger Ayesha Usman, claimed having identified her dead body at PIMS on Thursday. “They took my DNA sample. I even identified my sister’s body. At first, they told me that I could take the body with me, but later, they shifted it to Rawat. Now I have been standing here since morning to collect the body. There is no system in place. Neither anyone from PIA or PIMS, nor a single official of the district administration is present here for assistance and handing over of my sister’s dead body,” he complained.

Fahad also questioned why the dead bodies been shifted so far away from Islamabad. “There are many cold storages in Islamabad too. Why are we being made to travel extra miles,” he asked.

Earlier in the day, Minister of state for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry visited PIMS to offer condolences to families of the air crash victims. “The tragedy has affected every single Pakistani. We are trying our level best to lessen the pain of the bereaved families at the earliest.

Tariq Fazal said that DNA samples for identification of all victims, expect for the three foreign nationals who were on board the aircraft, have been collected from their respective blood relatives. “The last sample was collected at 5.45am on Friday. All samples have been dispatched to designated laboratories. We are trying to expedite the process of DNA analysis. Efforts are also underway to establish contact with families of the three foreign nationals,” he added.

He claimed having complete information about the belongings recovered from passengers. He appreciated the courage with which the victims’ families assisted in the identification process. A resident of Abbottabad handed over a couple of items retrieved from the crash site to a PIA security officer at PIMS. The items included the dial of a wristwatch which had stopped at 4.16pm; a burnt wallet, a mobile phone cover and a broken metallic belt.

APP adds: Meanwhile, PIA termed the ATR aircraft as perfectly safe for flying in hot and cold climatic conditions. On media reports regarding ATR not being a safe aircraft, PIA spokesman in a press release said that ATR is perfectly safe for flying and is useful and economical on short haul flights in both hot and cold weather conditions.

Several of these aircraft are being operated by airlines in India and Europe. Media reports suggesting that there was some known defect in the aircraft before its last flight are also totally baseless, it said.

It defies common sense that pilots and engineers would fly an aircraft that does not meet safety standards and risk their own lives, the spokesman added. An ATR aircraft operating as PIA s flight PK 661 had crashed near Havellian on Wednesday whereby leaving all 48 people on board dead.