AirBlue jet down in Islamabad

[TAILWIND]

....Another Pakistani accident risks fading into the mist of time..................

I hope and wish it doesnot, but am afraid it will.

Cant understand why, apparently there is no sabotage, no state security involved, no effects on our foreign relations or qaumi YAK JEHTI, then why the authorities are not coming clean on this.
A typical beaureaucratic mentality.

[meekal ahmed]

I believe the Sind High Court has called everyone involved ( including MD Air Blue) to account. This is great news. We might get the CVR and DFDR into the light of day. It is all there, including the accident report. It needs to be published -- for the first time in Pakistan's history.

[adamalikhan]

Air Blue crash: SHC issues notices to airline’s CEO

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court issued notices to the chairman of private airline Air Blue Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the Ministry of Defence, Air Traffic Controllers of Karachi and Islamabad, Civil Aviation Authority, federal law minister and Medical Superintendent of PIMS hospital, Islamabad for a date to be fixed later by the office of the court.

The petition was filed by the Human Rights and Civil Liberties Society, maintaining that investigations in the fatal accident are still inconclusive and are being kept secret for obvious reasons. He said that although there are reports that compensation has been paid to the heirs of the victims of the tragedy, the payment was made under Pakistani law.

Nisar A Mujahid Advocate appearing for the petitioner NGO submitted before Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi that the respondents were bound to pay compensation according to international law and also to keep the people of Pakistan posted about the investigations. If there is slow progress it should also be brought to the knowledge of the people.

He prayed the court to order the respondents to make public the stage of investigations and details of payment of compensation to the heirs of the deceased.

Source: http://tribune.com.pk/story/123664/air- ... lines-ceo/

[meekal ahmed]

I read this.

This is the best news. They need to call for the accident report and the output from the CVR and DFDR.

Then, God Forbid but it is highly likely, if criminal negligence is proved, the families should sue Air Blue in an international court which will give them "fair and adequate" compensation.

[divine]

By: Waqar Hamza | Published: March 01, 2011 on Pakistan Today
KARACHI - The crash of Airblue’s Airbus 321 airplane near Islamabad on July 28 last year, which killed all 152 people onboard, could be attributed to a number of violations, Aviation Department sources told Pakistan Today on Monday. When the aircraft was asked to go and hold north of the airfield at Islamabad airport, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) had actually given take-off clearance to a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) C-130 aircraft, which took 8 minutes to line up on runway number 12 and take off, the sources said.
The sources said further that at the same time Radar Controller Squadron Leader (r) Mukhtar Ahmed had warned the air traffic controller in the tower that the A-321 was moving into the no-go area and it should be immediately told to come back. Since the NATO aircraft was already on the runway, the air traffic controller delayed calling the A-321 back, which was the main reason aside from the murky weather that the aircraft flew into Margalla Hills and crashed.
This action was a gross violation of international aviation rules because landing aircraft always had priority over aircraft preparing to take-off, aviation experts said, adding that this violation was the obvious reason of the A-321 crash and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was completely to blame. Sources said that the rule of landing priority was also laid out in the Jeppesen Manual, which contained aviation rules every controller was supposed to be fully aware of. The CAA had deliberately concealed the recording of the conversation between the control tower and the plane in order to avoid blame, they claimed.
CAA Board of Investigation President Air Commodore Khawaja Abdul Majeed was heading the inquiry committee of the crash, sources said, adding that the inquiry committee had the cockpit voice recorder and audiotapes from the air traffic and radar controllers. CAA Spokesman Pervaiz George said the investigation of the crash was still going on and the authority was not in a position to say when it would be completed

[TAILWIND]

When the aircraft was asked to go and hold north of the airfield at Islamabad airport

Hold is over the VOR at OPRN and not north of the airfield.

the Air Traffic Control (ATC) had actually given take-off clearance to a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) C-130 aircraft, which took 8 minutes to line up on runway number 12 and take off,

It is a normal practice to clear a departing aircraft for line up anf takeoff while the landing aircraft is on the approach. Violation of the procedure only occurs if the landing aircraft is told to go around during final phase due to an aircraft taking off. None of that happened in this case.

Even if it is true, it was the pilot's responsibility to remain clear of terrain.

[Abbas Ali]

Airblue plane crash report to be submitted on 6th

By Saad Hasan

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

KARACHI: The investigation into the Airblue plane crash that killed all 152 people onboard is complete and a final copy will be submitted to the authorities by March 6, 2011, an official in the inquiry team said on Tuesday.

“I can’t tell you the reasons behind the accident, but it has been established that the aircraft was absolutely fit for flying,” he said, requesting anonymity. Airblue’s Airbus A321 crashed on July 28 into Margalla Hills near Islamabad. It was Pakistan’s worst aircraft accident involving a private carrier.

The official said that a key meeting is being held in Karachi on Wednesday to finalise the report. “Only the formatting is left and grammatical corrections need to be made.” Report into the crash will be submitted to Acting Director General of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Riazul Haq, he said. “He will then send it to the Ministry of Defence, which has the prerogative to make it public.”

The investigators have looked into every aspect including the ‘absurdities’ like the plane being brought down by a rocket, sabotage and possible pilot’s fatigue because of his praying the whole night before the accident, he said.

The probe team will also suggest authorities to hold a press conference to ensure that the report is transparent and remaining concerns are addressed, he said. It remains unclear whether the government will make the findings public or withhold certain points as a matter of national interest, which has been the case with previous aircraft accident investigations.

The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus had already said that nothing was wrong with the plane. This leaves the pilots, the airline or the flight controllers to be blamed. The enquiry team lacked any independent experts and was headed by officials of the CAA, a party in the case.

Air Commodore Khawaja A Majeed, President Safety Investigation Board, is the team leader. It includes Manager Technical Capt Sardar Muhammad Ilyas, Capt (Rtd) Mujahid Islam Khan, Senior Airworthiness Surveyor Tahir Abbas and Amanullah Alvi.

Captain Sohail Sarwar of Airblue is also in the team while Air Commodore Salamat joined just a few days ago to represent Pakistan Air Force, which runs the control tower at Islamabad’s Chaklala Airport where the plane was to land.

Pakistan has a poor track record as regards releasing aircraft accident reports to public. The government never made public the findings of investigations into the 2006 PIA plane crash. All 45 people including the crew lost lives in that incident.

Source: The News

[cashy]

[adamalikhan]

Can someone translate this please?

[nopy99]

3 key points in the above article

1) investigation report has been handed over to the ministry of defence
2) "sources" have said the crash was the fault of the pilot
3) family of deceased are pressing for report to be published, howveer there is no precedent of doing so in Pakistan.

[meekal ahmed]

Whether it is fatigue, fasting, poor ATC coordination, a compulsion to land and not divert, poor crew pairing, poor cockpit resource management, weather, rule violations... these are only contributory factors. This is a classic CFIT, like Cairo and Khatmandu, and if those accidents had been made public perhaps this accident would have not happened with a heightened awareness to flying in bad weather/poor visibility in and around high ground.

Despite being the most highly-trained species on earth, CFIT accidents always point to the pilot. This is not a rush to cruel judgment. It is a sad fact in CFIT accidents world-wide. Not only in Pakistan.

We know what happened; we want to know WHY.

The Sind High Court need only issue a simple order: publish the accident report along with the CVR and DFDR on the CAA's web-site.

[adamalikhan]

It is shocking how nothing from this report has made it to the public domain and I guess it never will

[Abbas Ali]

Peshawar High Court also has asked authorities to provide details of the accident.

But still details of accident have not been released.

Abbas

[meekal ahmed]

This is the only way (the courts) we might for the first time in 62 years actually see an air accident report published.

I hope the courts do not start their own investigation. That would be a waste of time and simply prolong the agony of the surviving family members. The court needs to issue a simple order:

The accident report (even if preliminary) should be posted on the CAA web-site complete with the output from the CVR and DFDR as is standard procedure.

The CEO of Air Blue is politically very powerful. He will do everything in his power to conceal/supress the findings. If negligence is proved, the compensation to be paid out can be astronomical. Of course AB has insurance but their premiums will rise sharply -- impacting their balance sheet.

[FULLTHRUST]

This is the only way (the courts) we might for the first time in 62 years actually see an air accident report published.

I hope the courts do not start their own investigation. That would be a waste of time and simply prolong the agony of the surviving family members. The court needs to issue a simple order:

The accident report (even if preliminary) should be posted on the CAA web-site complete with the output from the CVR and DFDR as is standard procedure.

The CEO of Air Blue is politically very powerful. He will do everything in his power to conceal/supress the findings. If negligence is proved, the compensation to be paid out can be astronomical. Of course AB has insurance but their premiums will rise sharply -- impacting their balance sheet.

Respected Meekal Sahib - Zinda Qaumain aisa nahin karteen!! Just look at the DGAC France and other Civil Aviation organizations, those who are still looking for the Flt data recorder on the Air France A330 crashed in Atlantic - they have so far spent more than US$40 Million on the search, although they have concluded the reports by the communications/tech messages that aircraft sent to ground ops before disintegrating, and based on that A330 fleet worldwide underwent their Pitot Static system upgrade or inspections or whatever. Please keep your cool and dont ask for what they are not going to publicize.