SHC directs secretary Aviation to submit report on fate of PK-661 crash inquiry

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Thursday directed secretary Aviation Division to submit a report with regard to the fate of Pakistan International Airlines flight PK-661 crash inquiry in which 42 passengers, including singer-turned-preacher Junaid Jamshed and his wife, and crew members had lost their lives.

The SHC directed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and others to file comments on a petition seeking a judicial inquiry into the PIA flight PK-661 crash. The court was informed that outcome of the plane crash inquiry was not known to the CAA or PIA, which was ongoing.

The petitioner, namely Syed Iqbal Kazmi, told the court that an Islamabad-bound flight of the national flag carrier had crashed after it took off from Chitral on December 7, 2016. He said the CAA director general had written to his seniors making startling disclosures about the functioning of ATR planes.

The petitioner said that 20 incidents were recorded in which the engines of ATR planes used by the national flag carrier had stopped during flights. Besides, 90 cases of removal of engines of ATR planes were recorded as well, he added.

He said that despite having knowledge of defects in the aircraft, the respondents did not take precautionary measures to avoid accidents and save previous lives.

He argued that after the occurrence of such incidents in the past, it was the constitutional obligation of the Cabinet Division secretary, the DG CAA and the PIA chairman to refrain from purchasing outdated planes, using them and risking the lives of passengers and crew members.

Kazmi claimed that the respondents had violated the Article 9 of the Constitution as well as the civil aviation rules. He pleaded for a judicial inquiry into the crash to fix responsibility on relevant officials and prosecute them, and for ordering compensation to legal heirs of the victims.

He requested the SHC to direct the respondents to ground all the planes currently being used by the PIA and to order their inspection by CAA or any other independent investigating agency or department.

A division bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, inquired from the PIA counsel as how many ATR planes were operational and whether they were being issued airworthiness fitness certificates.

The court inquired how plane crash incidents have occurred when the fitness certificates were issued to these planes. The court directed the PIA and Civil Aviation Authority to submit comments as to how many ATRs are operational and when the airworthiness certificates were lastly issued.

The court directed the CAA to submit as to how many ATRs have been grounded and whether proper procedure has been followed before issuing airworthiness certificates by the CAA. The mother of Ahmed Mansoor Janjua, whose son was the first officer who died on PIA flight crash on December 7, 2016, submitted that despite various approaches to different offices, neither the CAA nor the PIA disclosed the fate of inquiry to her as to what was reason of the aircraft crash.

The CAA officer submitted that an inquiry was being conducted by the aircraft accident investigation and inquiry board at Islamabad under the Aviation Division. He submitted that outcome of the inquiry was not known to the CAA or the PIA which was ongoing.

The court issued notices to secretary Aviation Division to depute the concerned officer to submit a report along with progress if any with regard to the pending inquiry. The court directed the officer of CAA to submit queries of the court with regard to the ATR operations before the court on January 21.