Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Wednesday presented a preliminary report on the PIA plane crash to the National Assembly, where he accused the pilots of being overconfident and unfocused.
Based on initial reports, Khan blamed the pilot, cabin crew and air traffic control (ATC) for the crash, which killed 97 of the 99 people on board.
'The pilot and the ATC did not follow the procedure. The plane was 100 percent fine,' the minister said, dismissing the possibility of a technical glitch in the plane.
Khan added that the pilots were not focused because of the coronavirus pandemic.
'In the last half hour, the pilots talked about the coronavirus, they didn't focus because their families were affected,' the minister said, adding that both the pilot and the co-pilot were fit and experienced.
The aviation minister added that a final report on the incident would be submitted in a year.
'Unfortunately, this is not the first case of a plane crash. There have been 12 such incidents in the last 72 years,' Khan said. These incidents were not investigated and no report was issued, no one knew who was responsible, the minister was admitted in Parliament.
He also assured the House that the government would not privatize Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). Instead, it will be reorganized and the government will take it back to its heyday.
However, the minister told the lower house that out of a total of 860 pilots in Pakistan, 262 did not sit for the exams. He claimed that someone else was sitting for their exams. Based on that, Khan said, 40% of licenses are fake, and pilots do not have the required flight experience.
According to the Aviation Minister, people have been recruited on the basis of fake degrees or appointed on political grounds, and merit is being ignored.
He clarified that an inquiry has been launched in this regard and show cause notices have been issued to 54 pilots. 'Some pilots have also challenged these notices in court. So far, nine pilots have admitted to having fake degrees.'
PIA flight PK8303, which crashed in a residential area of Karachi on May 22, departed from Lahore and landed about a kilometer (0.6 miles) short of the runway in its second attempt to land.
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