Pak plane crash: Aircraft was nearly 30 years old, official hints at blunder

AFP

Islamabad, 22 April 2012: The Bhoja Air plane which crashed near Islamabad, killing all 127 people on board, was nearly three decades old, officials said on Saturday, but had been approved to fly by aviation authorities.

 

The Boeing 737-200 was 28 years old and had been bought on dry lease from a South African company, a civil aviation authority (CAA) official who asked not to be named told AFP.

 

A Bhoja Air official insisted that despite its age, the plane was safe to fly.

 

"The aircraft was old and second hand but it is not something unusual. The fleet of state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) also runs old aircraft," Bhoja Air official Masham Zafar told AFP.

 

"Airlines rarely have brand new planes, and this aircraft was also refurbished.

 

"There was no technical issue and bad weather is to blamed. The plane left with CAA certification after normal check at Karachi airport and it was given clearance by the CAA to land at the Islamabad airport."

 

Bhoja Air was one of the first private airlines to set up in Pakistan after the country’s skies were opened up beyond the national flag-carrier Pakistan International Airlines in 1993.

 

It began domestic operations in the 1990s and ran international flights as far afield as the United Arab Emirates, but had its licence suspended in 2000 after failing to pay dues to CAA.

 

"The company’s licence has been restored in March this year permitting them to operate domestic flights after it assured us that it would repay the longstanding dues and keep up with the standard procedures," the CAA official said.

 

"It was the first evening flight for Islamabad, which met (with) the huge tragedy."

 

The official said that aside from the plane which crashed, Bhoja has another 737-200 in use and a more modern 737-400 which is awaiting CAA approval to fly.

 

Another CAA official said the pilot of the doomed flight Noor Ullah Afridi and first officer Javed Mushtaq joined the airline after retiring as pilots from Pakistan Air Force.

 

Blunder

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday ordered a judicial probe into Friday’s airliner crash near here in which all 127 people on board were killed as the country’s top met department official said the plane should have never been given permission to land.

 

The Boeing-737 of the Bhoja airline was on its maiden flight from Karachi to Islamabad, carrying 122 passengers and five crew members, when it crashed in stormy weather minutes before landing at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport here at 7pm.

 

Speaking to media on Saturday after visiting the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) where the bodies of the victims have been kept, Gilani described the crash as "a great tragedy in the history of Pakistan".

 

Director General of the Meteorological Department Arif Mehmood said the Civil Aviation Authority had been twice warned about adverse weather conditions over Islamabad air space Friday, Geo New reported.

 

"The first warning was issued at 3:00pm which cited major aviation hazards; the second warning was issued prior to 6:00pm," he said.

 

Both warnings stated that the wind pressure was extremely high, Mehmood said adding that the Bhoja Airlines plane, which crashed, should have never been given permission to land.

 

"The plane should have been directed to land at the alternate airport, which is the Allama Iqbal Airport in Lahore," he said.

 

Director General of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Nadeem Yousafzai later said the investigation into the plane crash could take anywhere from three months to one year.

 

The black box of the plane could take a month to decode, he added.

 

He also averred that the weather warnings issued by the Met Department were not so severe to close down the airport.

 

Yousafzai also clarified that the plane carried 122 passengers and a five-member crew though reports earlier had mentioned 118 passengers and nine crew members.

 

Several officials of the Bhoja airline, including owner Farooq Bhoja, have been barred from leaving the country until the probe into the crash is completed, said interior minister Rehman Malik on Saturday.

 

Boeing, the US aircraft company, has offered technical assistance in the plane crash’s investigation.

 

Meanwhile, special counters have been set up at the PIMS to facilitate the mourning relatives, who arrived here Saturday on a special plane from Karachi.