PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday disposed of the July 2010 Airblue plane crash case, declaring the captain and the air traffic control blameworthy for the incident, which had left all 152 people aboard dead in the Margalla Hills of Islamabad.

Former MNA Marvi Memon and relatives of some crash victims had filed the petition seeking independent inquiry into the crash and provision of appropriate compensation to the families of the deceased.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain ruled that the recorded conversation inside the cockpit of an Airblue plane and the air traffic control (ATC) proved that errors on part of the captain were primarily responsible for the accident.

It added that ATC didn’t provide adequate facilities to the pilot for safe landing.

The bench observed that legal heirs of almost all dead passengers had been provided compensation to the tune of Rs5 million each, whereas those of only a few hadn’t received compensation as they wanted to file separate lawsuits for better compensation. It added that on its orders, the inquiry into the plane crash was conducted twice.

The bench observed that the high court had ordered inspection of all aircraft of Pakistan International Airlines and private airlines in the country but as the Supreme Court had taken cognisance of the said issues, it appeared inappropriate for the high court to continue with the issues.

The bench ruled that after receiving transcripts and the recording of voices inside the cockpit of the crashed plane and ATC, it was of the view that the major contribution to the crash was the apparent stress and strain on mind of the captain.

It added that the captain was aged person and was not fully mentally alert and also because of bad weather conditions he could not well judge safe landing.

The bench observed that subsequently, the co-pilot cautioned him and radar of the plane also gave indications that hills were ahead and the plane should be geared up to lift it to the higher altitude.

It added that the indications were given at least a dozen times, but the captain did not respond.

CAA Safety Investigation Board (SIB) President M Abdul Basit, senior legal adviser Obaidur Rehman Abbasi, lawyer Abdul Shakoor Paracha, Ministry of Defence lawyer Tanveerul Islam, Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Iqbal Mohmand and petitioners’ lawyer Umar Farooq Adam also appeared before the bench.

Mr Basit said the captain had taken the compulsory rest required before the flight and the environment factor was involved in the faults on his part.

He added that the retirement age of a commercial pilot had been reduced from 65 years to 62 years.

The SIB president said the captain had planned to approach the runway from the left side but he was told by ATC to approach the landing strip from the right side.

Obaidur Rehman Abbasi said CAA had not concealed any fact from the court and had been keeping a close watch on the functioning of not only PIA but also private airlines.

He said the international experts had also hailed the performance of CAA and declared it 10th best such body in the world.

Initially when a report regarding the inquiry conducted by SIB was submitted before the high court in Dec 2011, the major cause of the plane crash, which had left 152 people killed, was given as misjudgments by the captain of the plane and inclement weather.

However, the court had expressed reservations over the said report and ordered to conduct inquiry through international experts.

During that inquiry by international experts, it came to light that certain facts were ignored in the earlier inquiry following which the court had directed CAA to submit another report to the court in the light of the findings of the international experts.

Later, a 25-page summary of the report compiled by the president of SIB was submitted before the court.

In that report for the first time some faults on the part of the air traffic system were highlighted saying the duty controller at Islamabad Control Tower was the junior most officer in the shift having less experience to handle such a complex situation.