PIA Pilot Refuses to Fly an ATR Plane After PK661 Crash

[SherDil]

A PIA pilot refused to fly an ATR (Avions de Transport) aircraft yesterday, claiming that the plane has a defective part and the plane is not fit to be used.



This charter flight (a flight outside of an airline’s regular schedule) was originally booked by an international company and it was supposed to fly from Karachi to Mohenjo-Daro, but after getting a refusal from the PIA pilot, the scheduled flight did not go anywhere.

PCAA to be Blamed?
When asked by a Geo News reporter on this matter, the pilot said that the engineering department should’ve detected the defectiveness and shouldn’t have allowed this aircraft to be used by anyone in the first place.

Later on blaming the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA), he said that they give a “one time waiver”, and they sometimes allow an aircraft to fly even though it has a defective part, using the term “as long as it can fly”.

The reporter said that this a huge problem and it could’ve caused many accidents.

“The engine could’ve failed at their destination, the Mohenjo-Daro airport. It could’ve even failed mid-flight. They should’ve never allowed this plane for use. This matter should have never reached the pilot”.

Not to mention that the PK661 had engine failures in the past as well.

Source: https://propakistani.pk/2016/12/09/...-crash/?utm_source=all_users&utm_medium=notif

 

[Dawood Ibrahim]

Alhumdulillah good news

 

[Chhatrapati]

A simple engine failure cannot bring down an ATR 42. They are very good turboprops. They can still fly on single engine. Even if both engines failed it still can glide.

 

[Taygibay]

ATR 72s have been sold since 1989.
Their safety record for the first 10+ years was excellent.
Their commercial success led to a high diffusion in smaller
and poorer countries for whom the type was adequate as a

[ and this corrects the OP's first line : A PIA pilot refused to fly an ATR (Avions de Transport) aircraft ]​

Avion de Transport RÉGIONAL / with an emphasis on local
air traffic, relatively short ranged flights on secondary airfields.

As these users, less fortunate in many respects, grew over the
total ownership, overall safety conditions lowered on average.
This is not a condemnation of all or any of these end users but
a real indicator of global fleet status and operating conditions;
you can't expect lower means for maintenance to bring safety
to a par with bigger players for one and the environment in high
altitude coupled with less equipped airports is more difficult too.


Then one checks the records and discovers that out of the 900+-
aircrafts produced ( 1000++ ordered ), 38 had accidents/incidents
worthy of major safety concerns out of which 27 hulls were lost.

[ Incidents are static problems like a crack found at the airport taking the plane out of service
of which this is the latest example : https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20160614-2 ]​

Of these 27, the two major causes were de-icing and human error.
About half ( 15 ) caused fatalities out of which a whooping 4 is to
the name of one carrier : TransAsia airways ( which also collected a minor
accident : slamming the wing into a light-bearing pole, no injuries ), for 5 cases total.
Only 3 were credited to major carriers with no fatalities occuring.


Last but not least, none of this invalidates the OP's pilot opinion as his
point of view is uniquely qualified and the article does not precisely tell
of the particular worry ( engine part but which? ).

I just wished to provide context; good day all, Tay.

 

[Imran Khan]

do not believe PIA employees . there is too much mess inside PIA . air league - people union - PALPA and every union is rejoicing situation on their favor .

A simple engine failure cannot bring down an ATR 42. They are very good turboprops. They can still fly on single engine. Even if both engines failed it still can glide.

what of fail and burn or structural damage and chain reaction

 

[chocolatelyhero]

Airbus and 747sare the safest air crafts in the world, PIA should stick to only these two

 

[Taygibay]

Airbus and 747sare the safest air crafts in the world, PIA should stick to only these two

Landing a 747 at Chitral???

The type requires almost 7 000 feet of runway at full but not maximum load, mate.
Chitral's lone runway is around 5,750 feet in length.
Regional aircrafts are made for these types of airfields.

Besides, a Jumbo for 50 pax is slight overkill ...

Just sayin'; all the best, Tay.

 

[Chhatrapati]

what of fail and burn or structural damage and chain reaction

But I guess the real cause will be a structural damage that resulted in Engine failure or pilot might have mistaken something else for an Engine failure. These are all possible.

 

[airmarshal]

Listen to Khalid Hamza in this program and understand under what tremendous pressure PIA pilots operate in.

 

[razgriz19]

An engine can fail from something as small as a seal. PIA has a record of buying parts from black and grey market, you need OEM parts and that's the bottom line. Most aircraft parts have shelf life or in service life based on flying hours or calendar years. Parts are perfectly fine AFTER they are time-ex, but that doesn't mean you can put it back on the aircraft. Black and grey market have those parts. I'm sure the new CEO changed this now, but they probably still have a stockpile of parts that they're using.
And of course we can't forget that some of the technicians are orangutans with huge ego. Their way is always the right way. If everyone goes by the book, almost no crash would take place unless part itself fails which in today's world doesn't happen that often.

 

[Team. Moonis Elahi]

PK 661 The Ill Fated Plane Crash Reflects Govt Policies For Institutions!

On Wednesday a PIA ATR – 42 aircraft PK661 crashed in the mountains of Havelian while enroute from Chitral to Islamabad. The ill fated plane was carrying 42 passengers along with 5 crew members and lost contact with control tower around 4:41pm. PIA confirmed the crash soon after reports about a plane gone missing began surfacing. One of Pakistan’s famous personalities Junaid Jamshed was one of the passengers who lost his life in the crash. Moonis Elahi and all leaders of PMLQ expressed grief and sorrow over the tragic incident and a minute of silence was noted at the PMLQ headquarters.


Pakistan International Airlines, the flag bearer of Pakistan, has become controversial about its safety standards and battered planes. Owing to politically influenced hiring in the crew it has become over burdened and a hub of corruption. Moonis Elahi agreed to the nation’s call to provide an fair inquiry into the cause of the crash which has shook the nation. People expressed grief and shock on social media and the entire nation criticized Govt’s failure to make PIA safe after so many promises and claims which all proved to be false. Such incident will make PIA suffer more losses as more people will try to refrain from flying through the national airlines.


According to DAWN news the pilot had made a “MAYDAY” call minutes before the crash. Soon after the take off the left engine failed and the pilot informed about it but it the ground crew thought the plane would make its journey only on a single engine. The 7 year old aircraft has had history of being faulty but the engineers kept it flying. Moonis Elahi stated that during the PMLQ regime public safety was their major concern and the Rescue 1122 is a clear proof. PMLN does not bother itself with such issues it just needs an excuse to stay in the limelight and litter the Mall Rd with their posters.


The news of the crash became even more widespread with the loss of Junaid Jamshed who was on the flight. The Pakistani icon was on a religious tour in Chitral and was coming back to Islamabad when he boarded the ill fated PK661. Moonis Elahi has expressed grief over the loss of precious lives lost in the crash. We must learn from our mistakes but unfortunately the incumbent government has never learnt from the past. It continues to play with innocent lives and when a tragedy happens, all PMLN ministers vanish like they never existed. Will there ever be a fair inquiry over this crash? Will we ever see justice provided to the people who lost their lives? Only time will tell.

 

[MarkusS]

Why exactly is ATR blamed here for bad management in Pakistan? What we see here is simply bad maintenance