Bhoja crash: compensation to families overdue
THE ill-fated aircraft of Bhoja Air crashed on April 20 last, killing all the 127 persons on board. There was an outpouring of sympathy for the perished and the affected families. But as the days passed, the tragedy has been overtaken by other events and almost forgotten.
Unfortunately, this has been a hush-hush affair from the beginning. Reticence to tell the truth on the part of the government, the CAA and the airline itself is giving rise to rumours of all sorts. There is a story afloat of attempted sale of Bhoja Air to an unknown entity in the UAE to apparently avoid adverse consequences.
If true, this might complicate payment of compensation to the bereaved families, as only 11 out of 127 have been reportedly paid compensation till now, apparently for an invidious reason to benefit the insurance company.
Results of the aircraft investigation and action, if any, against those responsible for the accident, directly or indirectly, has also not been disclosed, keeping everybody in suspense apparently for ulterior reasons. And last, but not least, why the unprecedented action for initiating criminal proceedings against the management of the airline for murdering the people on board the aircraft was taken again remains a mystery.
Was it for upholding the rule of law or for arm-twisting for political or other less than altruistic reasons, as this has never happened in airline history.
All concerned must realise that it is a human problem of grave proportion and necessary action must be taken to allay these misgivings and to provide some succour and solace to the affected families without further delay.
S.M. ANWAR
Karachi
Previously a news report in Dawn on the subject mentioned about the inquiry being not complete due to the absence of the investigating staff member. When an influential family’s son can buy an international airline ticket without presenting a passport, then you have all the answers but we continue our focus on bribery and scandal elsewhere in Afghanistan.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan has taken a lot of interest in aviation affairs lately pertaining to PIA, it may be helpful to bring to his attention the delay in formulating a report on this disaster by the CAA, the responsible authority working under the guidance of the Ministry of Defense. The reason for this air crash is a matter of concern to those affected and those individuals interested in flight safety in Pakistan.
This is a typical biased post. With no evidence how can you declare that the airline has comitted murder?
What about Air Blue – has the PML(N) Khakan Abbasi, owner, paid full compensation? No way.