KARACHI, Oct 9: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), with the help of its regulator, has managed to push a serious air safety lapse under the rug while the association of the national flag carrier’s pilots continues to warn that lives of passengers are unnecessarily put at risk and nothing in this regard is being done.

According to sources, a PIA aircraft had embarked and disembarked its passengers at Quetta airport without shutting the engines. The Pakistan Airlines Pilots’ Association (Palpa) took the matter as ‘a serious safety hazard’ but the PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority looked the other way.

The sources said that the power unit of the PK 310 flight was out of order yet the aircraft (AP-BGN) was sent to Quetta on Aug 12, 2011. The ground power unit at the airport was also not working, so the pilot kept one of the A-310 running to facilitate embarking and disembarking of passengers as well as and loading and unloading of cargo. Even the passengers needing wheelchairs were handled through steps manually, as was revealed in a document.

The sources said the whole episode was reported to the CAA’s Safety and Investigations Board (SIB) but its chief, Air Commodore Khawaja Majeed, forwarded the matter to the Flight Inspector Capt I. Mughal (who is on deputation from the PIA) instead of conducting an inquiry himself.

In his report, Capt Mughal said: “The pilot in command (PIC) has the authorisation to take necessary action/steps in a given situation as he deems appropriate without compromising the safety. Even in the CAA-approved standard operating procedure (SOP) the PIC has been given the leverage of adhering to the SOP in so far as possible. The start up procedure followed by the PIC did not jeopardise the safety of flight and the action seems to have been taken in accordance with the situation. Failure of the above action would have caused a lot of inconvenience to the full load of passengers.”

Responding to Dawn queries, PIA flight operations director Capt Naveed Aziz asserted that a captain did have the authority to take appropriate decisions in connection with aircraft all the time. Regarding the Quetta episode, he said the pilot had taken the required precautions by shutting down one engine (on the side of passenger doors). After the disembarking and embarking process, the engine was turned on and the other engine (on the side of the cargo door) was tuned off to handle the cargo, he added.

“There was no risk involved as the safety of passengers or/and aircraft was not compromised anytime,” he observed, and said that the decision was taken to avoid any inconvenience to passengers.

However, Palpa general secretary Capt T. M. Rabbani told Dawn that embarking and disembarking of passengers without shutting the engines was not allowed as this was a serious safety risk. He said that even the staircase was not allowed to be attached to the aircraft until the engines were turned off and the aircraft was moved to its APU or the ground power unit.

“The staircase is brought and attached to the aircraft only after the engines are turned off. The aircraft’s door is opened afterwards and then passengers are allowed to disembark,” he said, arguing that if the engines were left running, there were chances of a fire breaking out or people getting sucked into the engines. He said that there were examples where the aircraft drove over the stoppers put at its wheels and hit the objects lying ahead in such a situation.

The sources said that a high-level inquiry should be initiated into the Quetta episode to ascertain that why a faulty aircraft was sent to Quetta where an essential facility was also not available. Anyone found responsible should be brought to book, they said.

They recalled that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had time and again raised the issue of air safety with the CAA advising it not to bring in officials on deputation from the airlines that it was regulating as this would create a conflict of interest and such an official might prefer to protect the interest of his parent organisation at the cost of air safety.

KARACHI, Oct 9: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), with the help of its regulator, has managed to push a serious air safety lapse under the rug while the association of the national flag carrier’s pilots continues to warn that lives of passengers are unnecessarily put at risk and nothing in this regard is being done. According to sources, a PIA aircraft had embarked and disembarked its passengers at Quetta airport without shutting the engines. The Pakistan Airlines Pilots’ Association (Palpa) took the matter as ‘a serious safety hazard’ but the PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority looked the other way. The sources said that the power unit of the PK 310 flight was out of order yet the aircraft (AP-BGN) was sent to Quetta on Aug 12, 2011. The ground power unit at the airport was also not working, so the pilot kept one of the A-310 running to facilitate embarking and disembarking of passengers as well as and loading and unloading of cargo. Even the passengers needing wheelchairs were handled through steps manually, as was revealed in a document. The sources said the whole episode was reported to the CAA’s Safety and Investigations Board (SIB) but its chief, Air Commodore Khawaja Majeed, forwarded the matter to the Flight Inspector Capt I. Mughal (who is on deputation from the PIA) instead of conducting an inquiry himself. In his report, Capt Mughal said: “The pilot in command (PIC) has the authorisation to take necessary action/steps in a given situation as he deems appropriate without compromising the safety. Even in the CAA-approved standard operating procedure (SOP) the PIC has been given the leverage of adhering to the SOP in so far as possible. The start up procedure followed by the PIC did not jeopardise the safety of flight and the action seems to have been taken in accordance with the situation. Failure of the above action would have caused a lot of inconvenience to the full load of passengers.” Responding to Dawn queries, PIA flight operations director Capt Naveed Aziz asserted that a captain did have the authority to take appropriate decisions in connection with aircraft all the time. Regarding the Quetta episode, he said the pilot had taken the required precautions by shutting down one engine (on the side of passenger doors). After the disembarking and embarking process, the engine was turned on and the other engine (on the side of the cargo door) was tuned off to handle the cargo, he added. “There was no risk involved as the safety of passengers or/and aircraft was not compromised anytime,” he observed, and said that the decision was taken to avoid any inconvenience to passengers. However, Palpa general secretary Capt T. M. Rabbani told Dawn that embarking and disembarking of passengers without shutting the engines was not allowed as this was a serious safety risk. He said that even the staircase was not allowed to be attached to the aircraft until the engines were turned off and the aircraft was moved to its APU or the ground power unit. “The staircase is brought and attached to the aircraft only after the engines are turned off. The aircraft’s door is opened afterwards and then passengers are allowed to disembark,” he said, arguing that if the engines were left running, there were chances of a fire breaking out or people getting sucked into the engines. He said that there were examples where the aircraft drove over the stoppers put at its wheels and hit the objects lying ahead in such a situation. The sources said that a high-level inquiry should be initiated into the Quetta episode to ascertain that why a faulty aircraft was sent to Quetta where an essential facility was also not available. Anyone found responsible should be brought to book, they said. They recalled that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had time and again raised the issue of air safety with the CAA advising it not to bring in officials on deputation from the airlines that it was regulating as this would create a conflict of interest and such an official might prefer to protect the interest of his parent organisation at the cost of air safety.