ICAO’s complaint system incorporated to ensure airworthiness, SHC told

KARACHI: The International Civil Aviation Organization’s complaint system has been incorporated by the Civil Aviation Authority Airworthiness Directorate to ensure airworthiness of aircraft, CAA officials told the Sindh High Court on Thursday.

The SHC was hearing a petition seeking a judicial inquiry into the December 2016 flight of Pakistan International Airlines’ PK-661 crash inquiry in which 42 passengers, including singer-turned-preacher Junaid Jamshed and the crew lost their lives. The CAA was directed to submit a progress report, along with the policy of the aviation authority for airworthiness of aircraft.

Filing a compliance report before the court, the CAA officials submitted that annual airworthiness inspections are carried out by the CAA’s airworthiness inspectors which includes an in depth review of the maintenance carried out on the aircraft during the preceding time period to ensure that all required checks have been completed and a thorough physical inspection of the aircraft is undertaken.

They submitted that anomalies identified during the inspections are conveyed to the operator so that they can be addressed. They submitted that the CAA has an annual surveillance programme based on international standards besides aircraft maintenance organisations and operators are also audited to ensure compliance to regulatory requirements ensuring airworthiness of the aircraft.

They submitted that CAA inspectors also carry out ramp inspections and spot checks of aircraft to asses compliance with regulatory requirements and the manufacturers provided standards. They stated that the surveillance programme includes annual audits, surveillance audit and spot checks of these facilities to ensure compliance with CAA regulatory standards.

The SHC’s division bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, also issued notice to PIA, CAA and others on application of ex-deputy chief engineer, who questioned the PIA report about ATR aircraft operation.

The applicant submitted that the ill-fated aircraft ATR-42-500 was continuously used by the PIA despite escaping major accidents while landing at the Lahore airport in 2009 and engine failure during a flight in 2014.

He said that PIA had filed a false and fabricated report which failed to identify and address the real cause of the crash. The court directed the respondents to file comments on the application by May 26. The PIA counsel had earlier submitted at the time of the incident all installed 12 propeller blades were in full compliance with the requirements of the manufacturer and regulatory authorities.

Earlier, the CAA had questioned credibility of Aircraft Accident and Investigation Board’s inquiry report.” The Board had earlier fixed clear responsibility, saying the ATR’s failure sequence was triggered because of a fracture of turbine blade consequent to one procedure anomaly of PIA maintenance.

Referring to the ATR crash, the petitioner, Syed Iqbal Kazmi,pleaded for a judicial inquiry into the crash to fix responsibility and prosecute those responsible while ordering compensation to the legal heirs.