PIA pilot violates mandatory rest law
ATP- arab tourism portal- A senior and influential pilot of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) caused a potential safety hazard when he operated a trans-Atlantic long-haul flight without taking the mandatory rest, it emerged last Sunday.Sources said the national flag carrier did not check the violation of air safety rules though the PIA spokesperson claimed an inquiry would be conducted into the incident that happened in the first week of April.
The sources said no punitive action was taken against the pilot, QasimHayat. The PIA did not share information about the inquiry with the media despite the passage of over three weeks. This was not the first such incident of compromise on safety.
Another pilot, Amir Hashmi, had been involved in such violation at least twice in the past, the sources said.
They added that no punitive action had been taken against him, lending courage to other pilots to put the life of air travelers at risk. They said the record of Hayat was far from ideal/satisfactory.
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During his tenure in office as the PIA director, he did not take any punitive action against Hashmi, also the chief of Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association, who had violated the law regarding the 24-hour rest at least twice in the past.Even the Civil Aviation Authority did not take any punitive action against Hashmi for violating the CAA law which prescribed at least 24-hour rest for the crew before they operated long flights, the sources explained.
The rest was made mandatory because fatigued crew could lead to a disaster, the soPIA spokesperson AamirMemon said “The issue highlights the concern PIA considers sacrosanct. We are verifying the matter in all areas of airline operations and will conduct an inquiry and take appropriate action.”
