Disaster strikes again: Bhuja Air Plane crashes in Islamabad.

Disaster strikes again: Bhuja Air Plane crashes in Islamabad.

It has almost been  2 years that Air Blue's Air bus(A321) crashed due to adverse weather conditions, the significant cause listed for the disastrous crash killing all 152 people on board .A catastrophe that abandoned 100 of families and lead to the loss of loved ones.

Today, once again, we encountered the loss of numerous innocent lives, thwarted from reaching their destination by another plane crash. A paradoxical statement put forward again :' poor weather condition'.

 As reported by various news channels both National and International, the crash was sudden. There was contact with the pilot till around 6:20-ish pm .Some eye-witnesses have been reported to have seen a ball of fire growing larger as it eventually came down and crashed. Faulty engine, poor navigation, warning by civil aviation, life of our air craft fleet are numerous questions that came pounding after hearing such remorse news.

  The service life of a usual airplane is  not more than 20 years( as by this time the average number of planes cover the maximum  number of flying hours which are used to determine the life of a plane) and beyond that it can be  deleterious! It is nothing more than a piece of scrap and should be treated like that. Our national liner and other private airlines operating in Pakistan have fleet older than the normal span of operation and usage. So why are such planes still being run and part of the current fleet; a question usually sidelined by multiple stakeholders of the Aviation and the Public Entity PIA.

   One might wonder how this aircraft and many others get the permission to operate beyond the normal span of life and eventually we all end up blaming the pilot for the crash (as in the case of Bhuja Airline).For all those who might not know, Civil Aviation is the sole issuer of granting licenses to aircraft's for carrying out their normal routine flights.

   Working in/for the Civil Aviation is a very lucrative job. This again gives rise to a multitude of thoughts which might disparage the image of Civil Aviation owing to its current employees and putting a stake on its workings including the recent nomination of our Civil Aviation Authority Chief Finance Officer ,brother-in-law of and  another dear choice of our current President ,Asif Ali Zardari. Civil Aviation is an organization  currently  run by a mélange of high profile AirForce and other officials who find this job highly remunerative. This seriously challenges the state of affairs ,the manner in  with which the organization is being run and pummels such statements and questions such as that of the recent air crash.

    Viewing the current catastrophe from another dimension, we know that the control tower notifies the weather conditions and it lands upon the operating company and eventually the pilot to decide. It’s more about the company bound at carrying its scheduled operations despite the unfavourable predicaments. Even if the adverse weather condition part is only taken in consideration, the company decided to fly there plane despite the risky weather conditions.  

Sounds similar to our National Liner: PIA’s aging fleet  is still being operated with considerable hauls in regular flight timings, an over staffed organization and lack of maintenance.

Detention of PIA’s plane in France (last year), promises made by the officials on changing its fleet and restructuring this public entity are proof enough to discredit the fact how  Civil Aviation and this public entity has been working by not only putting at stake the lives of many but also causing inconvenience and considerable halts in passenger conveyance.

We cannot afford  risking more innocent lives. This is a matter of serious concern which has become paramount owing to the current crash. We can only hope that the future appointments are merit based and not based on referrals (like the one recently nominated by the President) ensuring transparency in the system. If the Civil Aviation ensures and grants licenses to organizations with upgraded fleet,many innocent lives like the ones lost today can be saved.