PIA is a statutory body created to provide revenue paying passengers with safe and reliable travel, carriage of cargo. It is not meant to act as a job provider for political cronies, or retired and serving officers or corrupt bureaucrats. Over the past five decades, they have driven it to insolvency, plagued by frequent fatal accidents with an incompetent regulator like CAA making it worse. Air crashes are an unfortunate part of commercial aviation which occur due to a combination of pilot error, technical problems and regulatory deficiencies.

In the event of a crash, airline executives are supposed to rise up to occasion and be compassionate, humble, apologetic and helpful, not adding to the woes of others by shouting at them. Yaseen alleges that he was shouted at in a PIA office by an officer in uniform. The video recorded account of the ordeal faced by Al Yaseen Ali, a 32 year old American of Lebanese origin is heart shattering and shameful for those at helm of affairs in the Aviation Ministry, PIA and CAA.

Those at the helm should speak the truth, which may be embarrassing for them, but lessens the pain and suffering of those who are victims of an air crash or railway accident and other such accidents that result in the loss of human lives or property of private citizens. After all, state functionaries exist to serve and protect people, not add to their woes. Yaseen states that he was given false information.

MALIK TARIQ ALI,

Lahore.