By Kamran Rehmat/Islamabad
Finally, the cause of Pakistan’s worst air crash is official. The commercial Airblue flight crashed into the Margallah Hills of the picturesque Pakistani capital on July 28, 2010.
It will hurt forever: Loved ones of those who died mourn
The cloud cover in Islamabad makes for a breathtaking scene and on the day of the crash, rain came calling as if on cue to provide sore eyes with a great hit. Sadly, the hit was enveloped in tragedy and remained shrouded in mystery until last month.
Many theories were immediately propounded — a staple diet of Pakistanis to explain the multitude of often intriguing episodes that take place across the land anytime anywhere — to make sense of the plane crash that killed all 152 passengers and crew onboard.
For one, the crash occurred after the Airbus intruded into a “no-fly zone” — Pakistan’s powerful institutions are all housed not very far from the Margallah hills — and there is supposed to be a rapid response to meet any such eventuality. Therefore, suspicions abounded about what could have transpired. Hence, the sigh of relief when the much-vaunted black box was found.
The conclusion of the probe report is that the crash was a case of “Controlled Flight into Terrain in which the aircrew failed to display superior judgment and professional skills in a self-created unsafe environment.”
Before one moves to the investigation report, a little factoid: it is calculated that if you were born on an airplane, flew in it and never got off, you would not be involved in a fatal accident until you are 78 years old.
Obviously, those odds did not help the ill-fated passengers. Neither did the fact that Pakistan has one of the safest aviation histories going around.
It was only to be expected that most debate would centre on the role of the captain whose renown as someone with more than three-and-a-half decades of flying experience, including a stint with Pakistan Air Force, to his credit as captain is difficult to dismiss.
How could Captain Pervaiz Chaudhry — trained on the most sophisticated six-axis motion simulators (which can be more challenging to fly than a real aircraft) — fly a high-tech aircraft into a hill and kill everyone?
But then like the one ball it takes to dismiss however great a batsman, all it takes is a momentary lapse in concentration or even fatigue to blur the line.
The probe report submitted last month gives a damning account of the seasoned captain’s fatal errors of judgment, compounded by his conduct.
It is sure to rend many a heart because, technically speaking, it led to everyone’s demise — suggesting early grave would be, strictly speaking, incorrect because the odd piece of charred flesh does not hold for a grave.
“Captain Chaudhry’s behaviour towards the flying officer was harsh, snobbish and contrary to establish norms. This undesired activity of the captain curbed the initiative of the First Officer, created a tense and undesirable environment, and a very conspicuous communication barrier in the cockpit, portraying a classic CRM (Crew Resource Management) failure,” the 38-page report says.
It has emerged that the captain who had been hired post-retirement from the national carrier — and only recently hospitalised with a history of diabetes, hypertension and cardiac problems — confused the Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad with Jinnah International Airport Karachi while planning Flight Management System (FMS) and Khanpur Lake with Kahuta area during the holding pattern!
The captain violated the proscribed Circling Approach procedure for RWY-12 by descending below Minimum Descent Altitude — that is, 2300ft instead of the standard 2500ft leading to loss of visual contact with the airfield.
He chose to fly the ill-advised self-created PBD-based approach, which resulted in transgression of the protected airspace and the eventual collision with the hills.
“The captain also did not at all adhere to Flight Crew Operating Manual procedures of displaying reaction and response to timely and continuous terrain and full up warnings (21 times in 70 seconds). Despite these very loud, continuous and executive commands, the captain failed to register the urgency of the situation and did not respond in kind (break off and full off),” the report observes.
What seems literally like the last nail in the coffin was the communication barrier between the captain and the First Officer, who almost turned a bystander after he felt humiliated.
“The question/answer sessions, lecturing and advices by the captain continued with intervals for about one hour after take-off. After the intermittent humiliating sessions, the First Officer generally remained quiet, became under confident, submissive and subsequently, did not challenge the captain for any of his errors, breaches and violations,” the report revealed.
Recalling the last recorded action, the report had this to say: “At 0441:08 hours, the FO (Flight Officer) was heard the last time saying to the captain ‘Sir we are going down, sir we are going da….’ The high rate of descent at very low altitude could not be arrested and the aircraft flew into the hill and was completely destroyed. All souls on board sustained fatal injuries due to impact force.”
Finally, what takes the breath away is how the captain appeared to ignore, rather than take cue, from how his fellow captains in two flights before him gave due respect to the danger of elements coming into play.
“While the captain of PK-356 managed to land in the third attempt, the captain of China Southern decided to divert back to Urumchi (China). The captain of the mishap flight opted to follow PK-356 but with non-standard approach procedure,” the investigation pointed out.
It is painful, if difficult, to wonder how those who lost their loved ones, including the family of the captain, would come to terms with the loss after these findings.
The captain’s son has decided to challenge the report and take the government to court, saying it is convenient to blame his father, when he’s not around, and that there was no proof to back claims the captain was “snobbish” and misread the emergency on flight.
The recording of the last conversation between the captain and the control tower – as reported by Civil Aviation Authority sources — is deeply poignant, if ironical.
Here is how it reportedly went before the captain lost contact (the plane was travelling at 9.5 nautical miles while it was supposed to turn at five nautical miles).
Control tower’s first warning: You are getting away from the runway.
Pilot’s response: We can see the runway.
Control tower’s second warning: Turn to your left immediately, you are heading towards Margallah hills.
Pilot’s response: We can see that.
** The writer is a freelance journalist based in Islamabad and can be reached at [email protected]