Bhoja Air Boeing 737 Down Near Chaklala, Rawalpindi

[Abbas Ali]

Bhoja Air Crash: Decoded black box returns from the US

Islamabad: (Friday, May 25, 2012) The black box of the Bhoja air plane that crashed last month in Rawalpindi minutes before its landing, taking all 127 lives on board, has returned to Pakistan from the US after being successfully decoded.

Under supervision of a senior Investigation Officer Mujahid Islam, a team has already started to transcribe the conversation that took place between the pilot and the co-pilot of the Boeing 737-200 aircraft before it crashed.

During the investigation, the statements of Mukhtar, an on-duty worker at the Radar at the time of crash, have also been recorded.

As per the initial investigation, the plane was at a height of about 2,000 feet instead of 2,800 feet at the time of landing.

It is still being investigated why Mukhtar did not intimidate the pilot regarding the plane’s height and its change in direction, and why did not transfer the information to the Air Traffic Control tower.

The Bhoja Air flight travelling from Karachi to Islamabad had turned into flames after coming down in fields near a village on the outskirts of Islamabad as it tried to land in rain and hail at the city’s international airport back on April 20, 2012.

Source: www.newspakistan.pk

[TAILWIND]

Bhoja Air Crash: Decoded black box returns from the US
During the investigation, the statements of Mukhtar, an on-duty worker at the Radar at the time of crash, have also been recorded.

It is still being investigated why Mukhtar did not intimidate the pilot regarding the plane’s height and its change in direction, and why did not transfer the information to the Air Traffic Control tower.
Source: www.newspakistan.pk

I will advise the online newspaper to hire a good english tutor or a proof reader. WHo is mukhtar, the duty radar controller, peon, driver or tea boy at radar????.
On to serious issues, once the aircraft is handed over to tower, the radar controller though has the aircraft still visible to him, yet focusses his attention on other traffic which he is handling (arrivals/departures). I dont think that unless specifically asked or an acft straying into some prohibited area, the radar would intervene.
AFAIK, there is no radar visibility with tower controller

[Abbas Ali]

A news report with some more information:

Bhoja Air crash: Decoded black box arrives

By Umer Nangiana

Published: May 26, 2012

ISLAMABAD: The decoded black box of the ill-fated Bhoja Air B737-200 arrived from the United States this week, to carry forward investigations into the crash that killed 127 people last month on the outskirts of Islamabad.

Sources in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the investigation team is currently transcribing the decoded information. A special Boeing team is also likely to arrive in the country in the next three days.

Meanwhile, investigators recorded statements of officials present at the control tower at the time of the crash, sources said.

They added that the statement of the on-duty staff officer at the Radar tower, Mukhtar, who was suspected of failing to convey the loss of altitude to the aircraft’s captain, was also recorded.

Earlier investigations revealed that the plane dropped to 2,000 feet, whereas 2,800 feet is required for safe landing.

Some officials of the CAA, who claimed to have knowledge of ongoing investigations, said the aircraft was brought down by a weather phenomenon called ‘downdraft’.

“Both pilots panicked on entering the downdraft and failed to take emergency measures to prevent a crash,” said the officials. However, an aviation expert rejected the claim, saying a pilot is taught to avoid Cumulonimbus (Cb) clouds. Once he gets into it, he cannot do much to avoid a crash, he added.

The expert agreed that the crash might have been caused by a weather phenomenon but it could be ‘microburst’ instead of ‘downdraft’.

Downdraft is a small-scale column of air that rapidly sinks towards the ground, usually accompanied by precipitation – a shower or thunderstorm; however, microburst is a similar weather condition present in Cb clouds. It lasts from 30-90 seconds and has a radius of over two kilometres, the expert explained.

He further said that pilots, anywhere in the world, are told to avoid Cb clouds, which are indicated by radars in the aircraft. The Boeing 737 in Pakistani companies, including PIA, might not have advanced Doppler radars that provide actual wind patterns. However, every aircraft has weather radars that indicate the presence of Cb clouds.

“It may be possible that the weather radars in Bhoja Air B737-200 were either completely out of order or their coordinates were out,” said the expert. In both cases, the pilot would have failed to detect the Cb cloud and entered a microburst.

“Once into the Cb cloud, you (pilot) can do nothing but recite Kalma,” he added.

Meanwhile, the local police again contacted the management of Bhoja Air at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) for details about the aircraft and the company’s stakeholders to pursue criminal investigations into the case.

The company management has sought two days for a reply to the queries, said police officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2012.

Source: tribune.com.pk

Abbas

[Abbas Ali]

It may be possible that the weather radars in Bhoja Air B737-200 were either completely out of order

Some weeks ago, if I remember correctly, in a statement attributed to crash investigation team aired by some news channel or published in some newspaper it was said that Bhoja Air Boeing 737 was flying with a functional radar built in 1994.

Abbas

[TAILWIND]

A news report with some more information:

Bhoja Air crash: Decoded black box arrives

“It may be possible that the weather radars in Bhoja Air B737-200 were either completely out of order or or their coordinates were out,”

Source: tribune.com.pk

Abbas

I want to meet this 'expert'???????

[Abbas Ali]

Boeing Company and NTSB Teams Depart After Taking Part in Bhoja Air Crash Investigation

JUNE 3 - According to statement of United States Embassy in Pakistan quoted by local news channels, Boeing Company and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation team members have left Pakistan after a 5-day visit of the country during which they along with Pakistan CAA took part in Bhoja Air Boeing 737 crash investigation.

The team members have prepared documents after visiting wreckage of the crashed aircraft. With the help of flight data recorder data and other technical data the team also studied performance of crashed aircraft's two engines.

Abbas

[Abbas Ali]

U.S. experts assist in April 20, Bhoja Airline crash investigation

Islamabad, June 3, 2012

A team of experts from the United States' National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Boeing aircraft manufacturing company, left today after a five-day visit to Pakistan. During their visit, the team assisted the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan (CAA) in its ongoing investigation of the April 20 crash of Bhoja Airline Flight 213.

On the day of the crash, CAA Pakistan requested NTSB’s assistance in the investigation. The NTSB team traveled to Islamabad to document the recovered wreckage, present findings from the Flight Data Recorder (FDR), and provide Pakistani investigators with technical data on the performance of the aircraft and engine. NTSB also invited members of the CAA to travel to the United States with the plane's cockpit voice recorder and FDR for analysis. That data, as well as the findings of the CAA and NTSB teams, will help provide investigative authorities information about the cause of the crash.

The United States is proud of the cooperation that the NTSB and Boeing Company were able to offer the CAA during the aftermath of the tragic crash. The NTSB looks forward to continued participation in the on-going investigation.

Source: Press Release - Embassy of the United States - Islamabad, Pakistan

[Abbas Ali]

Bhoja Air announcement in today's (June 5) newspaper.

"Announcement

Bhoja Air wishes to announce that in accordance with its legal obligations under the Carriage by Air Act 2012, it shall pay compensation of Rs. 5,000,000 (Pakistan Rupees five million only) to the legal heirs of each of those passengers who sadly lost their lives in the recent tragic accident of Bhoja Airlines Flight B4-213 of 20th April, 2012 near Islamabad Airport.

The amount of Rs. 5,000,000 (Pakistan Rupees five million only) payable to the legal heirs will be inclusive of interim / advance payments currently being made in the amount of Rs. 500,000 (Pakistan Rupees five hundred thousand only). Final compensation shall be paid as soon as Succession Certificates and where appropriate Guardianship Certificates as required by the said Act have been obtained by the legal heirs claiming compensation for the loss of their loved ones, including the ill-fated crew."



Abbas

[newflyer]

Bhoja Air announcement in today's (June 5) newspaper.

"Announcement

Bhoja Air wishes to announce that in accordance with its legal obligations under the Carriage by Air Act 2012, it shall pay compensation of Rs. 5,000,000 (Pakistan Rupees five million only) to the legal heirs of each of those passengers who sadly lost their lives in the recent tragic accident of Bhoja Airlines Flight B4-213 of 20th April, 2012 near Islamabad Airport.

The amount of Rs. 5,000,000 (Pakistan Rupees five million only) payable to the legal heirs will be inclusive of interim / advance payments currently being made in the amount of Rs. 500,000 (Pakistan Rupees five hundred thousand only). Final compensation shall be paid as soon as Succession Certificates and where appropriate Guardianship Certificates as required by the said Act have been obtained by the legal heirs claiming compensation for the loss of their loved ones, including the ill-fated crew."



Abbas

Just 5 million Rupees? The investigation is not completed yet and the compensation can be much higher than that. Looks like the faulty airline is trying to pay as minimum compensation as possible. They are also not following the precedent of AirBlue where they paid 5.55 million to each heir.

[Zulfiqar]

http://dawn.com/2012/06/07/caa-never-re ... cidents-2/

CAA never released data ‘Pakistan is probably on top in air accidents’

ISLAMABAD, June 6: Pakistan’s accident rate regarding airplane crashes is probably the highest in the world but Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has never published the accident-related data.

On the other hand, it was being feared that since a criminal case had been registered against the owner of the Bhoja Airline, the insurance company might stop the payment of compensation to the relatives of the victims.

It was stated by Wing Commander (retired) Syed Naseem Ahmed, head of Society of Air Safety Investigators Pakistan along with Advocate Abdul Razzaq (PhD Criminology) and relatives of the victims of plane crash.

He said, “Unfortunately, Pakistan does not have the capacity to conduct inquiry into the technical faults in the plane due to which team of the Boeing Company came and gave a clean chit to the plane just like they did on the occasion of the Airblue plane crash.

“I have been a part of at least 20 airplane crash investigations and can say that it is not easy to detect fault in the planes after they crash, so an international expert who has experience of airline crashes should be called in to conduct such inquiries,” he said.

“At the moment Bhoja Air (operator), CAA Pakistan and Boeing Company have been given the best opportunity to protect their vested interest during investigations but there is no one to represent the public,” he regretted.

He further alleged that in the CAA, director generals (DGs) were appointed on political grounds and during the last 28 years, 18 DGs had been changed due to which system of the department was week and no one was willing to strengthen it.

“How is it possible that experts from Boeing Company in the absence of any technical experts from Pakistan will not hide their weaknesses? It has occurred, a number of times in the world. It happened in Indonesia during the crash investigation of SilkAir accident in 1997 (737-300).

“During investigation, Boeing Company managed to erase the last 10 seconds of flight data from FDR (black box) and the Indonesian authorities excluded the Boeing team from the investigations. Instead, they hired another team which found evidence of a rudder failure,” he explained.

Advocate Abdul Ghaffar said that registration of the criminal case against owner of the airline would delay the release of insurance money because company will wait for the result of criminal investigation.

“Interests of the victims’ relatives should be ensured as most of them could not get succession certificates from the courts.

According to rules Rs500, 000 should be paid to the family members of the victims immediately and after that Rs4.5 million should be paid from insurance company’s money,” he said.

Replying to questions of mediapersons Naseem Ahmed said in case the accident was caused by the pilot’s mistake (as was mentioned in the Airblue plane crash report) still the operator should be considered responsible because it had to be asked why incompetent crew was appointed and why the training of the staff was not ensured.

It is to mention her that Flight B4-213 of Bhoja Airline carrying 127 people had crashed on April 20 in Husainabad locality
of Rawalpindi killing all on board.

[faisal-777]

http://dawn.com/2012/06/07/caa-never-re ... cidents-2/

CAA never released data ‘Pakistan is probably on top in air accidents’

“How is it possible that experts from Boeing Company in the absence of any technical experts from Pakistan will not hide their weaknesses? It has occurred, a number of times in the world. It happened in Indonesia during the crash investigation of SilkAir accident in 1997 (737-300).

“During investigation, Boeing Company managed to erase the last 10 seconds of flight data from FDR (black box) and the Indonesian authorities excluded the Boeing team from the investigations. Instead, they hired another team which found evidence of a rudder failure,” he explained.

That's shocking. I thought Black Box data cannot be manipulated. And it's understandable that a manufacturer will generally always try to hide engineering incompetency in their product.

[newflyer]

Looks like Bhoja is packing up. What will happen to the victim's families?

[raihans]

any update on the ongoing investigations?

[affan]

Investigators now give the perception that plane went into micro-burst. But can Micro-burst cause fire as witnesses say?

[Abbas Ali]

According to an eye witness statement that I saw on TV, the aircraft was not on fire when it made first contact with the ground. It caught fire after making contact with the ground and then after hitting rising ground it jumped into the air and exploded.

Abbas