A PIA plane carrying 99 passengers crashed on the day of Juma-tul-wida in Karachi just one minute before landing, sending waves of sorrow, grief and shock to the entire nation. It has raised many questions about the efficiency, professionalism, accountability and transparency of the airline. The initial cause is said to be faulty landing gear, abrupt fire in engines and hitting the plane to a multi-story building. Accidents do occur but it is very unfortunate when the cause is negligence and slackness. The PIA plane crash has again triggered many questions in my mind. Why did the engines catch fire after flight of just less than two hours? What was the cause of the fire? Who issued the clearance certificate to the plane for flight? Who is responsible for maintaining the logbook of service and repairs? If the plane was not in a condition to fly then who authorised it to fly? Why are internationally acknowledged safety rules not followed in PIA? Why have multi-story buildings and residential colonies been allowed to be established near the vicinity of Karachi’s international airport? CEO PIA has ordered an internal enquiry comprising of subordinate officers to ascertain the exact cause of the tragic incident but one wonders: will it be an independent and impartial enquiry to probe into the real causes of the incident? Will it be in a position to pinpoint the dereliction of duties on the part of senior management?

I believe now the time has come to initiate criminal proceedings against the responsible party of this horrifying incident instead of initiating departmental action against them. Otherwise, such incidents would continue to take place in the future. An example is required to be set to teach a lesson to those who are responsible for the death of 99 innocent people and bereaved mourners to bear this irreparable loss of their beloveds.

TARIQ MAJEED ADV,

Hyderabad