PIA plane crash: Aviation minister says degrees, licenses of pilots should be checked

Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Wednesday that the degrees and licenses of pilots should be regularly checked as in the previous tenures ‘fake degrees’ of pilots have been found out.

The aviation minister was addressing the National Assembly, where he said that there has been speculation that the inquiry regarding the ill-fated PIA flight Pk-8303 will not be transparent.

The minister told the House that the voice and data recorder box both have decoded, reiterating that the inquiry will be transparent.

“The incident that took place on May 22, its inquiry report will be presented on June 22 in this very House,” said Sarwar.

He mentioned that in the crashes that earlier happened, the reports were not very clear but in this case, things will have to be brought on the right track.

“Things will become better with assessment and accountability,” said the aviation minister.

The minister gave example of the other international airlines with hundreds of plane and a great number of destinations, lamenting that the PIA has only 31 planes in its fleet but still the incidents take place.

The minister said that some of the families refused to take compensation, whereas, those five families whose houses were destroyed in the crash, were also staying temporarily at a hotel arranged by the PIA administration.

The federal minister assured that after complete assessment of the damages, the compensation will be given to the affectees. 

Last month, flight PK-8303 had crashed in a residential area near Karachi's Jinnah International Airport a few moments before landing.

Ninety-nine people were aboard the plane, including 85 passengers, of which two passengers miraculously survived the incident.

Parts of crashed plane shifted: PIA spokesman

A PIA spokesman earlier said that the heavier and difficult to retrieve parts of the crashed plane have been moved.

The wing and engine of the plane were lifted with the help of a heavy crane in the presence of technical experts, said the spokesman.

The engine was lying at the top of a multi-story building at the Model Colony, where the plane crashed.

The PIA coordinated with Port Qasim Authority to acquire heavy machinery to lift the parts of the plane, said the spokesman.

Sindh Rangers 42 Wing cordoned off the entire area to ensure safe transfer of the parts.