Senator wants to investigate aircraft controversy

Senator wants to investigate aircraft controversy

ISLAMABAD: Controversy over the grounding of a Boeing plane by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) after it was damaged by law enforcement during an anti-hijacking exercise is likely to face parliamentary scrutiny by an opposition senator from the Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said on Sunday that he would raise the matter with the relevant parliamentary committee.

Speaking to Dawn, PML-N Senator Afnanullah Khan said he had already asked the Chairman of the Senate Standing Aviation Committee, Hidayatullah, to open the matter for investigation and that he would formally write him a letter on the matter.

Senator Khan said he would explain the matter to the chairman of the committee in the letter and ask him to convene the heads of the PIA and the airport security forces (ASF). He said the opposition members on the committee would also ask for a subcommittee to be set up to conduct a thorough investigation.

The PML-N Senator said PIA's Boeing 777-200 LR with registration number AP-BGL had been parked in a warehouse in Karachi for nearly two years. The plane, which cost the Treasury over $ 300 million, was unable to fly due to damage caused by law enforcement during the exercise when an ASF truck was hit with full force, he added.

Mr. Khan said PIA management initially denied any wrongdoing but later confirmed the exercise and that the aircraft was damaged.

Last month, a recently retired PIA pilot, Mumtaz Hussain, filed a petition with the Lahore Supreme Court on the matter. On October 25, Judge Tariq Nadeem instructed the Assistant Attorney General to seek a response and paradoxical comments from the PIA chief.

The next hearing is on November 30th (tomorrow).

In his petition under Article 199 of the constitution, the pilot asked the court to instruct the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to allow the aircraft to be inspected and to provide information on its airworthiness.

The petitioner also requested criminal proceedings against those responsible for the damage to the PIA Boeing 777-200 aircraft with registration number AP-BGL.

He alleged that the CAA grounded the aircraft for unsanitary conditions and parked the aircraft at the Jinnah Terminal, causing the airline and a national treasure to lose millions of rupees.

Mr. Hussain also included a full list of the aircraft's technical defects reported by the engineering department. According to the petition, the plane had not flown since March 2020, while it needed 69 flights in February.

The 329-seater aircraft had made its maiden flight in March 2004.

Speaking to Dawn, petitioner's attorney Nabeel Javed Kahloon said he would file another motion with the court on Monday (today) to set up a high-level commission of technical experts with experience and training in Boeing 777 aircraft to handle the aircraft and submit a full investigation report on the structural damage and the facts to the court.

Through the supplementary motion, Mr. Kahloon said, they would also ask the court to order the CAA to detain the aircraft under Section 272 of PIA's 1994 Civil Aviation Regulations so that no one can tamper with the evidence.

PIA spokesman

However, a PIA spokesman stated that the reports that the aircraft had been rendered unusable were not true.

In a statement, he admitted that the aircraft was partially damaged during an anti-hijacking exercise, but claimed the damage had been repaired.

The plane is parked at the long camp, he said.

The aircraft was parked at the long warehouse because the use of Boeing 777s had declined due to curbs in the wake of Covid-19, the spokesman added.

He said the plane would be operational when the travel restrictions were lifted. He said the use of Boeing planes would increase following Saudi Arabia's decision to allow direct flights from Pakistan. He added that the plane would be ready for use as soon as long-haul flights resume.