PIA Cleared ATR Planes for Operation without Examination: CAA

Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) grounded PIA’s ATR planes which led to cancellation of flights on Tuesday. This caused immense trouble for the passengers as there were quite a number of flights canceled due to this issue.

The flights canceled due to the ATR planes being grounded included:

• Karachi-Bahawalpur PK-588
• Karachi-Rahim Yar Khan PK-582
• Karachi-Sukkur PK-594
• Islamabad-Multan PK-681
• Islamabad-Lahore PK-653
• Islamabad-Gilgit PK-605
• Islamabad-Kabul PK-249
• Lahore-Multan PK-683

According to PIA, four of the six ATR planes were cleared to continue operations. However, on Tuesday, CAA rejected the statements made by PIA and stopped the airline from continuing operations on the 4 planes.

The aviation authority stated that the planes will not be granted clearance without their engine oil getting examined through a magnetic chip detector.

PIA’s Neglect to Blame?

Reports indicate that PIA was informed by the plane company (that sold them the ATR planes) at the time of the purchase that the engine oil of these planes should be checked periodically. By regularly conducting this activity, the officials can have an idea of the condition of the engine’s parts. PIA administration neglected this procedure which led to the grounding of ATR planes by the CAA.

According to CAA’s sources, following the tragic event of Islamabad-bound ATR plane’s crash near Havelian, our national airlines’ ATR planes have been facing proper scrutiny.

Tragic Havelian Crash

PIA ATR-42 aircraft operating flight PK-661 crashed on Dec 7, killing all 47 passengers on board, including famous singer-turned-preacher Junaid Jamshed.

Read More: PIA Flight from Chitral to Islamabad Crashes Near Abbotabad [Live]

Initial Grounding of The Planes

Earlier on Dec 12, the PIA grounded its entire fleet of ATR planes until a thorough examination of the planes was completed. Due to the lack of a magnetic chip detector, engine oil of the planes couldn’t be checked at that time. Because of this issue, the planes were grounded

Source: Geo, Duniya