Report in Havelian crash next week


ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Aviation Division Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Friday informed the Parliament that the interim report of Pk-661 Havelian crash will be presented in the House in next week.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Flight PK-661 a domestic passenger flight from Chitral to Islamabad, was crashed near Havelian on December 7, 2016.
All 47 people on board died, including singer-turned-preacher and entrepreneur Junaid Jamshed and the Deputy Commissioner of the District of Chitral. An initial report into the accident
by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) said that the aircraft’s left engine malfunctioned at an altitude of 13,375 feet (4,077 m).
The pilot reported the engine failure at 16:12, which was followed by a rapid uncontrolled descent and the disappearance of the aircraft from ground radar a few minutes later. A one-page preliminary report of the Safety Investigation Board found a ‘lapse’ on the part of the PIA and a ‘lack of oversight’ by the PCAA. Answering to the question of luggage handling, the minister responded that the daily report of the time consumed is maintained for domestic and international flights.
Standard time of one hour has been bench marked for baggage delivery at the belt which generally commences after 15 minutes of aircraft engine shutdown. He informed the House that annually 457 flights operated from Karachi’s Jinnah terminal and no complaint of delay in the luggage uploading or offloading was registered.
Similarly, annually 289 flights operated from Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport and no compliant was received however annually 348 flights were operated form Islamabad International Airport out of which 24 flights were reported to delay the luggage delivery and the matter is under investigation, said the minster.
He said the provision of requisite ground handling staff and unit load device is solely the responsibility of the concerned airline.