ISLAMABAD: The government will present the inquiry report of last week’s plane crash before a parliamentary session on June 22, said the country’s aviation minister, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, on Thursday while requesting the media and the public not to speculate about the causes of the accident.
“This will be a provisional inquiry report based on free and fair investigation [into the incident]. Nobody should have any confusion about it,” the minister said while promising to release all the inquiry reports of the past 11 plane crashes as well
A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane carrying 99 people including crew members crashed into a residential area near the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi last Friday, resulting in 97 casualties. Two passengers miraculously survived the incident.
“It is my commitment to the nation that all information [related to the plane crash] will be shared with the public in the minimum possible time,” the minister said while announcing to lay the inquiry report in an upcoming parliamentary session on June 22.
Pakistan has a checkered history of aviation safety record that includes a number of air crashes. The country has witnessed 12 plane crashes including the recent one since 1947, out of which 10 involved PIA flights. The other two planes belonged to Air Blue and Bhoja Air.
The minister said that an independent inquiry board was looking into all aspects of the recent crash while an 11-member French team of experts had also collected evidence from the site of the incident to ascertain the causes of the accident.
“Why did this accident happen, how it happened and who is responsible for it, the whole nation is concerned about it,” the minister said, adding that all inquiry reports, including those focusing on past accidents, would not only be made public but also used to take action against all those who were found guilty of negligence.
He said that voice and data records had been found, and the French investigators would take them back to their country to decode them. “There are technical questions that you or I cannot answer. So, we will wait for experts to tell us,” he said.
“Whoever is held responsible [for the accident] will face dire consequences,” the minister said.
He also revealed that the pilot of the ill-fated plane tried to make belly-landing three times without announcing that its landing gears were not extending.
“It is a million-dollar question that he [the pilot] touched the runway three times, but then again lifted the plane up in the air,” he said, adding that the inquiry team would try to answer all the queries.
Out of 97 bodies, 51 have been handed over to their families after identification with the help of DNA tests while the identification process for the remaining bodies is still underway. “We are trying our best to hand over the bodies to their families as soon as possible,” the minister said.
He added that the government teams were surveying the damaged property and vehicles on the crash site to compensate the residents of Model Colony where the plane crashed.
“At least 15 homes are completely destroyed …. We will fully compensate their owners,” he added.
Plane crash inquiry report to be made public on June 22 – aviation minister
https://arab.news/vuz2c
Plane crash inquiry report to be made public on June 22 – aviation minister
- Ghulam Sarwar Khan revealed the pilot of the ill-fated plane made three botched attempts to make belly-landing
- Out of 97 plane crash victims, bodies of 51 have been identified with the help of DNA tests
Babar Azam dropped for scoring too slowly, says Pakistan coach Hesson
- Shaheen Shah Afridi was left out after conceding 101 runs in three matches
- Pakistan will now face New Zealand in the opening match of the second phase
COLOMBO: Batting great Babar Azam was dropped for Pakistan’s final T20 World Cup group game against Namibia for scoring too slowly, said head coach Mike Hesson on Friday.
Azam, who is the highest run-scorer in T20 international history with 4,571 runs, was left out for the must-win game against Namibia as Pakistan racked up 199-3 and secured a place in the Super Eights by 102 runs.
The 2009 champions face New Zealand in Colombo on Saturday in the opening match of the second phase.
“I think Babar is well aware that his strike rate in the power play in the World Cup is less than 100 and that’s clearly not the role we think we need,” Hesson told reporters after Pakistan’s final practice session on Friday was washed out by rain.
Pakistan left out Azam for the same reason at last year’s Asia Cup and even after dismal showing in the Big Bash League, he was still selected for the T20 World Cup.
“We brought Babar back in for a specific role post the Asia Cup,” said Hesson.
“We’ve got plenty of other options who can come in and perform that role toward the end.
“Babar is actually the first to acknowledge that.
“He knows that he’s got a certain set of skills that the team requires and there are certain times where other players can perform that role more efficiently.”
Hesson also defended dropping pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi after he conceded 101 runs in three matches, including 31 in two overs against India.
“We made a call that Salman Mirza was coming in for Shaheen, and he bowled incredibly well,” said Hesson.
“To be fair, he was probably really unlucky to not be playing the second and third games.”
Hesson was wary of Pakistan’s opponents on Saturday.
“New Zealand have played a huge amount in the subcontinent in recent times so we have to play at our best.”
