A PIA aircraft, ATR 42-500, crashed near Havellian last Wednesday (Dec 8) on its way from Chitral to Islamabad. All the 47 passengers on board and crew were killed in the crash.
Although it is premature to list the actual reasons for the crash as the same will be known after the inquiry has been completed, the most probable cause of the crash has been reported to be the faulty engine. During the flight, one of the two engines of the aircraft caught fire due to which this engine exploded. The explosion caused structural damage to the aircraft and damaged the wing. This affected the aerodynamics which forced the aircraft to fall freely to the ground. The pilot couldn’t resort to gliding as the aerodynamics of the aircraft had totally changed. If the aircraft had remained intact, it could glide for a distance of around 25KMs. It may be mentioned that an ATR can glide even if both the engines of this aircraft give way or are switched off!
Air-Cdre (r) Azfar A Khan
Karachi
*****
This refers to the Havellian plane crash. According to the initial statements of the PIA administration, one of the engines of the aircraft malfunctioned. The aircraft’s black box has been found and sent for decoding. Once its decoding has been done, the actual reason of the crash will be known.
It is hoped that the authorities will be fair while giving out the actual reason of the crash so that relevant safety measures are taken to avoid such incidents in the future.
Rehana Rafique
Hyderabad
*****
This refers to the editorial, ‘Time to mourn’ (Dec 8). According to some media reports, the government has not only called for an independent inquiry but monetary compensation will be paid to the next of kin of those unfortunate passengers on board the ill-fated PK-661. The question arises on the credibility of such statements. Are these mere political statements – given after almost every tragedy since, unfortunately, the country is home to a lot of such tragic incidents – or the government will actually stand by its words? The entire nation would appreciate if the government and CAA disclose the amount of compensation paid to the families of the victims of the 2010 Air Blue and 2012 Bhoja Air crashes. Both the incidents caused large-scale casualties. The action of the government after the 2010 Air Blue crash was unsatisfactory. The airline wasn’t questioned over its inability to provide a secure travel to its passengers. Since that was a private airline, the CAA should have ensured whether the airline has an insurance cover to compensate for the victims’ families.. Taxes levied on passengers are collected by the CAA. This revenue of the CAA is supposed to ensure safe conduct of any commercial flight.
In the light of international norms and an ICAO regulation that regulatory body tasked to monitor and regulate all aviation aspects must not have any conflicts of interest, establishment of an independent Accident Investigation Board, which is administratively or financially not linked with either the CAA or any other aviation operational entity, is very vital to find out the real reason of the crash.
Malik Tariq Ali
Lahore
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