Investigator are trying to find an answer to a simple question, "why did the engine fault was not detected during check up after the last flight when the engineering took more than the stipulated time." It has been learnt that the report prepared for submission to the Ministry of Defense claims that neither was there a fire nor smoke, the cabin pressure never went down, the oxygen did not fail and the doors of the aircraft were immediately opened when the aircraft was brought back to the terminal as opening doors before that could have resulted in mishap. The reports that went to media seemed to be the swift job of inter departmental jealousy and lack of understanding of aviation norms in the media, an aviation expert said.
The fact of the matter is that even with a slight experience in aviation the remarks like, "doors were closed by the pilot", "sitting in aircraft for two hours without oxygen" and "engine caught fire" could have easily been judged to be far from truth, but the immaturity is causing this nation in every department dearly without self accountability, experts say.
According to the flight report, available with Business Recorder when PK-308 was positioned by maintenance department on bay number 14 about an hour late at 3.30pm on December 2, its back up power unit was not working for last few weeks, and the cabin was very hot, while air-conditioning van connected to the aircraft for the purpose was not good enough to cool the cabin to a comfortable temperature level.
Needless to mention that Auxiliary Power Unit (APU- back up generator) in every aircraft is an important equipment used in mid air emergencies, where as at least five PIA aircraft are still flying without serviceable APUs. The aircraft involved in the incident was made ready after its arrival from Rangoon where it transported Hujjaj on a charter from Jeddah. The engineering department had already announced that it will take more time than usual and that the flight will be delayed by an hour and so the management had announced and informed passengers regarding revised departure time of 5pm instead of 4pm.
However, the source confirmed that even after taking more time, the PIA engineering personal failed to check the faulty start up system of engine number one. That was, however, not the only bad omen with PK 308, the CAA ground power system which has been creating problem for the last many months, also did not generate enough power for mega top flying machine (Jumbo 747) with heavy passenger load of more than 400. The aircraft was, therefore, pushed back and the engine number four was tried once on the ramp. The failure to start the engine prompted the pilot to bring back the aircraft and have it checked as manual attempt of the engine start up had failed as well.
The report further stated that the tug master was under pressure and took six minutes to complete push back at 5:02pm, but engine number one failed to start. Subsequently all the technical procedures to attempt the engine start up were tried but without any success. Finally the pilot after completing his check list asked the engineering personal to check engine number one, but the ground engineer while using faulty equipment further aggravated the situation.
'Pylon valve was opened manually by maintenance personal after a delay of about eight minutes as the tool for opening the pylon valve had to be brought from the hanger. Engine number one failed to start with manual override procedure as well. At the same time AC was taxied back to bay number 14, at 5.30pm, said the report.
However, there was no fire, as reported in the media, despite that AC packs were off for most of the time due to APU u/s and the cabin temperature was very high, while Pax was very uncomfortable due to high temperature and lack of air flow. During this period some of the passengers panicked probably due to asthmatic conditions and not realising they could not have survived even for two minutes if there was no oxygen. It is not true that there was no oxygen in the cabin and the aircraft doors were not opened. The commentary on air created a scene as if some disaster had happened on the aircraft carrying important personalities and a lot of irresponsible remarks came from responsible people, the source said.
The source went on to explain that as soon as the airplane was parked at bay number 14 and ground electric connected, passenger door L-2 was opened and passengers disembarked. The maintenance department then announced further delay up to 7pm. "They maintenance personal informed the pilot that starter motor of engine one has disintegrated and would be replaced, which they did very promptly. Meanwhile, clearing of boarding of passengers was given at 6:45 pm. Some of the passengers receiving calls from relatives who were watching TV channels decided not to travel on this flight, their baggage had to be off loaded as per policy which resulted in further delay," stated Captain's debrief report.
At that time, the pilot added in his report: after completion of push back procedure/process of starting engine number two, fire tenders from Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approached the aircraft. "This was quite strange and the pilot contacted the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) inquiring as to why the fire tenders were called as we had not asked for them, neither had declared any emergency," he added. The ATC replied there was misunderstanding, but the media reported fire on engine one, passengers evacuation and lots of hype. The CAA should investigate whether the ATC will work as per the ground situation and SOP or would they be taking decisions while watching TV channels the report suggested.
There is some serious thinking needed to be done at all levels. A senior aviation expert said the CAA, PIA, the Ministry of Defense and above all the media organisations should sit together and decide some SOP regarding aviation reporting. CAA and PIA while strengthening their departments should ensure promptness in service and availability of resources while the media needs to think whom to trust, a "panicking passenger or a lying official of the organisation or should they wait till the dust settled instead of making a mountain out of a molehill."
The Airline also needs to revamp some of its departments which are more interested in the management than their own work, the whole country has taken responsibility of others' work leaving their own, similarly the engineering department of PIA should also do some self audit and gauge its strength and weaknesses as its inefficiency could be gauged by the fact that it is responsible for 82.33 percent on average flight delays in three months (August, September, October, 2012).
According to details, engineering department was responsible in August for 407 flights delays out of total 514 flights accounting for 79 percent delays. In September 550 out of 625 delayed with 88 percent proportion, while in October 468 out of 585 flights were delayed with 80 percent proportion and out of 554 flights delayed in November a staggering figure of 437 flights was due to engineering department laxity.