AirBlue jet down in Islamabad

[Abbas Ali]

News report published in September 2 edition of English daily 'The News'.



Abbas

[Abbas Ali]

General public notice by Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) published in September 10 newspaper announcing compensation of Pakistan Rupees 500,000/- (Rupees Five Hundred Thousand) to each family of deceased passengers who lost their lives in July 28, 2010 tragic crash of AirBlue flight ED-202 at Margallah Hills, Islamabad.

[inducedrag]

What is the latest news ?

[offspring]

It was in the newspaper that Airblue would pay 1 million for each victim. This amount has been capped in light of the limited liability clause on their tickets.

However, I believe this can easily be challenged in court especially as victims of Multan crash received a lot more.

[Abbas Ali]

According to a news report published in September 14 edition of Urdu daily 'Waqt', following four pilots above the age of 60 have been released by AirBlue after flight ED-202 accident.

* Capt. Ali Hamid
* Capt. Saeed Khan
* Capt. Mirza Rafi
* Capt. Khalid Mufti

In this list of four pilots, is Capt. Saeed Khan the same pilot who was Captain of PIA Boeing 720B (AP-AZP) that was hijacked in 1981 ?

According to recent reports, Pakistan CAA has increased retirement age for pilots to 65 years so I think as long as a pilot under the age of 65 is fit & healthy and clears tests conducted by the airline and CAA, he/she should be allowed to fly.

Here's September 14, daily 'Waqt' news report. The news report I think is unfairly putting entire blame on pilot. The ATC should also be held responsible for letting aircraft drift away too far.

Source: Waqt

Abbas

[ABQ]

Thank God! "History of PIA" is back.. I was missing the valuable discussions by the forum members a lot.

Among the lost posts, there was a chain of posts in which we were discussing the path followed by the aircraft before crash and the point of impact. Unfortunately a lot of valuable information has been lost.

Here is the possible path followed by the aircraft, the coordinates and altitude details of the point of impact are mentioned below:

Lat: 33.7443
Lon: 73.0401
Height: 910 m (2985 ft)


Note:
Green line shows the normal path for landing at runway 12 during circle to land approach.
Red line shows the path followed by ED-202

[ABQ]

Here are some screenshots from the 3D view of point of impact in Google Earth. (for those who haven't physically seen the place)

[Abbas Ali]

^ Thank you ABQ for re-posting flight path image & info about crash location, really appreciate it very much.

On following link are accident animations released by National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of USA.

Link: Accident Animations - NTSB

Here's an example of NTSB accident animation of US Airways Airbus A320-200 which was safely ditched in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009.

The animation shows flight path, altitude and speed with details of communication between cockpit crew, ATC etc.



Relevant authorities in Pakistan should consider releasing similar animation after completion of AirBlue crash investigation.

Abbas

[meekal ahmed]

Abbas,

Just to say thank you for all your help in getting me logged in again.

M

[Abbas Ali]

^ You're welcome Meekal.

Abbas

[meekal ahmed]

Abbas,

Reading your comment about the Pakistani authorities putting out a video as in the case of the US Air incident, I would submit you are an irrepresible optimist! I would like to believe you but I have this sense nothing of the sort will happen.

Having said that the one thing that is different now is the media. They need to be relentless. This was a high-profile accident in the capital city of Pakistan. Not some poor people who get killed up in the northern areas -- or even Multan.

I hope the media will not let us down. I would also urge the many of you who are good writers and know aviation on this forum to write in the press as well. I have done so but it is only one voice. We owe it to all those that perished in this avoidable tragedy -- and their surviving family members. The truth must come out, lessons learnt and blame apportioned without fear or favor.

[meekal ahmed]

This thread seems to have gone quiet.

Like Abbas, I also want to thank ABQ for re-posting his earlier pictures.

It seems from the point of impact that just another 100 feet higher would have got them clear of the ridge-line. I guess that is what we call "fate". It makes me think of Ernest Gann's brilliant book "Fate Is The Hunter".

[EinsteinMux]

I visited the site last week; Surprisingly, the debris of crash plane is still visible

[meekal ahmed]

Don't they have plans to remove the wreckage to a hangar somewhere as is normally done?

[Moin]

What I have also noted is that there is not a single Air Crash Investigation episode dedicated to Pakistani related crashes and my guess is because they did/would not get any cooperation from the local authorities which like to wrap themselves in red tape.