AirBlue jet down in Islamabad

[jam2k94]

Govt is busy in memo scandal and leaving all other things to do at side.

[jam2k94]

Where is the report which the defence minister informed going to be publish on 15th of December.

[Abbas Ali]

AirBlue Crash Report Submitted to Peshawar High Court

DECEMBER 20, 2011 - According to local news channel reports, Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has submitted AirBlue crash report at a Peshawar High Court hearing held today.

According to the report, the accident happened due to negligence of flight's captain. Flight's captain was informed about bad weather as well as no-fly zone, according to statement of President of CAA's Safety Investigation Board Air Commodore (Retd.) Khawaja Abdul Majeed who headed a committee constituted by CAA to investigate AirBlue crash.

Peshawar High Court Court has ordered payment of compensation to AirBlue crash victims' family members/relatives within next 45 days.

Abbas

[pk363]

^Thanks for the update Abbas. However the report is very brief so sketchy, I hope that the complete report will be available for general public in near future.

[Abbas Ali]

Latest Update:

Pilot was informed about bad weather but he continued with landing approach that caused the accident.

Completion of distribution of compensation money to AirBlue crash victims’ family members be made in next 45 days by the government and in next 90 days by AirBlue.

* Government of Pakistan will pay compensation money equal to Pak Rupees 500,000/- to family of each victim.

* AirBlue will pay compensation money equal to Pak Rupees 5,500,000/- to family of each victim.

A total of 152 people including 6 crew members died in AirBlue Airbus A321 flight ED-202 crash on July 28, 2010.

Abbas

[Abbas Ali]

According to following AAJ News report aired on December 21, 2011, Pakistan's Ministry of Defence submitted AirBlue crash investigation report to Peshawar High Court on December 20, 2011.



Abbas

[Abbas Ali]

Inquiry report: CAA blames pilot for deadly Airblue crash

By Manzoor Ali

December 21, 2011

PESHAWAR: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) submitted an inquiry report of the 2010 Airblue crash in Islamabad to the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday, putting the blame on the pilot.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Fasihul Mulk took up the hearing of a writ petition, filed by former MNA Marvi Memon and the families of those killed in the crash.

CAA Director Safety and In­quiry Air Commodore Khwaja Majeed submitted the authority’s report to the court.

Majeed told the bench that the inquiry report places the responsibility for the crash on the captain of the flight. He further told the bench that on the day of the crash the pilot had been asked to go back due to poor weather conditions, adding that two flights had already returned.

According to the report of the black box, which was sent to France for investigation, the pilot, in his last conversation, informed the control tower that he was heading back, Majeed said. The pilot was also informed that he was flying in a no-fly zone.

The chief justice asked the official whether the wreckage of the plane was checked for explosives traces and whether the plane was shot down from the ground. Majeed replied that the plane’s wreckage indicated that the crash was an accident.

The CAA official failed to come up with a satisfactory reply when asked whether international standards were followed in the crash investigations. Upon this, the court observed that if there is any plane crash in Pakistan in the future, the CAA will be held responsible.

Compensation process still incomplete

Expressing displeasure over the non-payment of compensation money to the victims’ families, the court gave 45 days to the federal government and three months to Airblue to complete the process.

Abdul Qadir, a section officer from the defence ministry, also appeared before the court and said that the delay in the payment of compensation was due to a delay in succession certificates. He informed the court that so far the government had issued compensation money amounting to Rs500,000 per victim to the families of about 40 out of 152 victims.

Source: tribune.com.pk

Inquiry blames weather, pilot for Airblue crash

PESHAWAR, Dec 20: An inquiry report placed before the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday held inclement weather and pilot of the plane responsible for the Airblue crash which had killed all 146 passengers and six crew members on July 28 last year.

Air Commodore Khwaja A. Majeed, head of safety and investigation board of the Civil Aviation Authority, submitted the report before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Mian Fasihul Mulk.

He informed the court that the control tower had communicated to the pilot that he was violating the no-fly zone, to which the pilot replied that he was turning back.

On a query from the bench whether they had conducted forensic tests for tracing gunpowder on the belly or other parts in the wreckage, the CAA official replied in the negative. Had anything hit the plane from outside, the wreckage would have indicated it, the CAA official added.

On the day of the accident, he said, the weather was bad and two flights had already been diverted from Islamabad airport. He said the Airblue plane had drifted away from its course.

In reply to a question, he said the plane was at least six kilometres from the area where embassies were situated.

Khwaja Majeed informed the court that the black box was sent for examination to France. He said they had also examined record of communication between the control tower and the pilot.

The chief justice put several queries to him about how they handled the black box and what safety measures were adopted. The bench further asked whether the authorities had conducted voice identification tests on the conversation between the pilot and co-pilot, and the control tower, because such things could be fabricated later on.

Mr Majeed said the CAA had followed international standards in carrying out examinations. The conversation taking place between the pilots, he added, showed that everything was
normal. He said the last words of the pilot indicated that the aircraft was going down.

The court took exception to the delay in payment of compensation to heirs of the crash victims, both by the federal government and the Airblue, issuing a number of directives.

COMPENSATION: The bench fixed Jan 19 for the next hearing of a writ petition filed by former MNA Marvi Memon on behalf of relatives of the dead passengers, with the observation it would keep tabs on progress in payment of compensation.

The petitioner has prayed the court to direct the federal government to constitute an independent board of inquiry to determine and make public the cause of the crash of Airblue flight ED 202 in Margalla hills.

A section officer of the ministry of defence (aviation wing), Mohammad Qadeer, informed the court that heirs of 40 victims had so far been paid Rs500,000 each as compensation. He blamed the documentation process for delay in payment.

The court directed the federal government to immediately depute a civil judge at Islamabad for issuance of succession certificates and one senior officer of defence and law ministries in the court premises to complete the documentation process within a month.

It also directed the government to pay compensation to the remaining heirs of the victims within 45 days.

The court was informed that Airblue had so far paid Rs5.5 million each to heirs of 66 passengers. The bench directed the management of Airblue to adopt the earlier explained procedure so as to speed up the payment, which should be ensured by all means within 90 days.

In case of failure, the court observed, it would be constrained to issue a show cause notice to Airblue to suspend its flying licence and the CAA would be directed to stop providing facilities to it at all notified airports.The court expressed reservation over the performance of CAA, stating that it had wide powers but had not been looking into the quality of service provided by different airlines.

Source: DAWN

PHC grants time to govt for plane crash aid

Peshawar — The Peshawar High Court here Tuesday granted time to Federal Government and administration of Air Blue airline to pay compensation amount to victims of the deadly crash in Islamabad on July 28, 2010. The PHC two-member bench comprising Chief Justice, Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Fasihul Mulk granted 45 days to Federal Government and three months to the management of Airblue for provision of compensation to bereaved families of 152 victims.

Taking strong exception to non payment to Airblue crash victims, the Court ordered the Federal Government to nominate a judge for compilation/preparation of documents, succession certificates and other relevant records to complete modalities of payment within a month and complete payment process to heirs of bereaved families within 45 days without further delay.

The Court also ordered the airblue administration to provide compensation to victims within three months and in case of failure, show-cause notice would be issued against them and Civil Aviation Authorities (CIA) would be ordered to cancel its license. The court passed the orders after submission of Enquiry Report of Airblue plane tragic crash.

The Court was told that Federal Government has already provided Rs. 500,000 per family of 40 victims while Rs.5.5 million per family of 66 victims have been paid by Airblue. As per the enquiry report, the tragic incident occurred due to negligence of pilot and bad weather etc. Former MNA, Marvi Memon had filed a writ petition on behalf of the victims family members of the Air Blue passenger plane crash in Islamabad and prayed before the Court to direct the government for constituting an independent board of inquiry to determine and make public the causes of this fatal accident and also paid compensation to the members of the bereaved families.

Federation of Pakistan, Ministry of Defense, National Disaster Management Commission, National Disaster Management Authority, Civil Aviation Authority, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Ministry of Interior, Capital Development Authority and management of Airblue are respondents in the case.

Source: pakobserver.net

[mages]

hmm.... does this not contradict a pretty much all other news released to the media of what happened, including what was happening in the cockpit and the plane/tower communications? They entered a no-fly zone, where? The pilots informed the tower of the impending crash? Something doesn't add up here.

Was the actual report handed over to the court just testimony on its contents was given?

[Abbas Ali]

last words of the pilot indicated that the aircraft was going down.

I think it means that cockpit voice recording reveals that cockpit crew realized that aircraft is going to hit Margalla hills and they tried to take evasive action that was too late.

Abbas

[Airborne]

DAWN, December 22, 2011

Headlines: Airblue inquiry finds captain uneasy, confusedWaseem Ahmad Shah | Peshawar | From the Newspaper (14 hours ago) Today

PESHAWAR, Dec 21: Inquiry into the last year’s Airblue plane crash into the Margalla Hills of Islamabad has said the captain showed signs of anxiety, preoccupation, confusion and geographical disorientation in various phases of the flight, especially after commencement of descent.

All 152 passengers and crew on board died in the July 28, 2010 incident.

The 38 pages inquiry report submitted to the Peshawar High Court by a team headed by Air Commodore Khwaja A Majeed a day ago said deteriorated weather conditions were a factor in the causation of the crash and that no evidence of any internal or external sabotage, incapacitation of aircraft systems, in-flight fire, bird strike or structural fatigue had been found.

According to the report, Airblue crash has been finalised as a case of Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT) in which aircrew failed to display superior judgment and professional skills in a self created unsafe environment.

“In their pursuit to land in inclement weather, they committed serious violations of procedures and breaches of flying discipline, which put the aircraft in an unsafe condition over dangerous terrain at low altitude.

“Captain Pervez Iqbal Chaudhry’s behaviour towards the flying officer was harsh, snobbish and contrary to establish norms. This undesired activity of the captain curbed the initiative of the first officer (FO), created a tense and undesirable environment, and a very conspicuous communication barrier in the cockpit, portraying a classic CRM (Crew Resource Management) failure.”

The report said the captain had prior knowledge of the decision by two captains flying ahead of him.

“While the captain of PK-356 managed to land in the third attempt, the captain of China Southern decided to divert back to Urumchi (China). The captain of the mishap flight opted to follow PK-356 but with non-standard approach procedure.”

The report said though aircrew captain was fit to undertake the flight on the mishap day, his portrayed behaviour and efficiency was observed to have deteriorated with the inclement weather at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIAP).

It further said the chain of events leading to the accident began with the commencement of the flight where the captain was heard to be confusing BBIAP, Islamabad, with HIAP (Jinnah International Airport), Karachi, while planning FMS (Flight Management System) and Khanpur Lake (Wah) with Kahuta area during holding pattern.

“This state continued when the captain of the mishap flight violated the prescribed Circling approach Procedure for RWY-12 by descending below Minimum Descent Allowed (i.e 2,300 feet instead of maintaining 2,510 feet) losing visual contact with the airfield, etc,” it said.

About the sequence of events, the report said during initial climb, the captain tested the knowledge of the FO and used harsh words and snobbish tone, contrary to the company procedure/norms.

“The question/answer sessions, lecturing and advices by the mishap, the captain continued with intervals for about one hour after takeoff. After the intermittent humiliating sessions, the FO generally remained quiet, became under confidence, submissive and subsequently did not challenge the captain for any of his errors, breaches and violations.”

It said the plane had ended up in a dangerous situation due to most unprofessional handling by the captain, adding that since the desired initiative of the FO had been curbed and a communication barrier had already been created by the captain the FO failed to intervene, take over the controls to pull the plane out of danger and display the required CRM skills.

“At 0441:08 hours, the FO was heard the last time saying to the captain ‘Sir we are going down, sir we are going da….’ The high rate of descend at very low altitude could not be arrested and the aircraft flew into the hill and was completely destroyed. All souls on board sustained fatal injuries due to impact force.”

The report said at 0439:58 (70 seconds before the impact), first Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) warning of ‘terrain ahead’ started sounding meaning that the EGPWS worked exactly in the manner for which it was designed. It is added that the aircrew ignored several calls by the ATS (Air Traffic Services) controllers and EGPWS system warnings (21 times) related to approaching terrain and pull up.

It further said flight recorders contained the complete flight data and cockpit voice recording for the entire flight duration from the takeoff to the crash.

[Abbas Ali]

Lack of judgement, professionalism alleged in report

Akhtar Amin

Thursday, December 22, 2011

PESHAWAR: In the inquiry report, the probe committee has declared the Airblue plane crash in the Margalla Hills in Islamabad a case of Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT) in which the aircrew failed to display superior judgment and professional skills in a self-created unsafe environment and in their pursuit to land in inclement weather.

It said in the process the crew committed serious violations of procedures and breaches of flying disciplines, which put the aircraft in an unsafe state over dangerous terrain at low altitude.

In the 38-page comprehensive report of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) made available to The News, the inquiry committee said the chain of events leading to the incident, in fact, started with the commencement of flight when Captain Pervez Iqbal Chaudhry was heard confusing the Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad with Jinnah International Airport Karachi while planning Flight Management System (FMS) and Khanpur Lake with Kahuta area during the holding pattern.

The report said the captain of the unfortunate flight violated the prescribed Circling Approach procedure for RWY-12 by descending below Minimum Descent Altitude (MDA) (i.e. 2,300 ft instead of maintaining 2,510 ft), losing visual contact with the airfield and instead resorting to fly the non-standard self-created PBD-based approach, thus transgressing out of the protected airspace of maximum of 4.3 NM into Margalla and finally colliding with the hills.

“The aircrew captain not only clearly violated the prescribed procedures for circling approach, but also did not at all adhere to Flight Crew Operating Manual (FCOM) procedures of displaying reaction and response to timely and continuous terrain and pull up warnings (21 times in 70 seconds).

Despite these very loud, continuous and executive commands, the captain failed to register the urgency of the situation and did not respond in kind (break off and full off),” said the inquiry report.

It stated in the inquiry that the First Officer simply remained a passive bystander in the cockpit and did not participate as an effective team member failing to supplement and compliment or to correct the errors of his captain assertively in line with the teachings of the Crew Resource Management (CRM) due to the captain’s behaviour in the flight.

Source: The News

[SM]

From what I have read, I am convinced that the captain was an incompetent jerk.

[Airborne]

This is a classic example of an overconfident captain, where he tried to snub his F/O right from the beginning by overwhelming and humiliating question & answer session. This happens even in PIA as a routine, and only done by those captains who themselves have had a poor reputation as F/Os.

[Guru]

This is a classic example of an overconfident captain, where he tried to snub his F/O right from the beginning by overwhelming and humiliating question & answer session. This happens even in PIA as a routine, and only done by those captains who themselves have had a poor reputation as F/Os.

If what has been quoted above is true, this could be all the more reason for this kind of behavior from the Captain since he was a retired ex PIA pilot.

[TAILWIND]

Lack of judgement, professionalism alleged in report

In the 38-page comprehensive (???????) report of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)......

Speaks of the comprehensive report.