Federal govt has enacted Pakistan Air Safety Investigation Act 2023, SHC told

The federal government has enacted the Pakistan Air Safety Investigation Act 2023, which would establish an independent bureau of aircraft safety investigation for independent probes into aircraft accidents, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has told the Sindh High Court.

Filing a progress report recently on a petition seeking a judicial review of the affairs of the national flag-carrier for its alleged failure to provide a safe environment to public travelling by air, the CAA submitted that parliament enacted three laws effecting complete segregation of regulator, service providers and investigators to avoid potential, actual or perceived conflict of interest to ensure independence of investigation.

The petition was filed after the PIA plane PK-8303 crashed in Malir on May 22, 2020, which led to the loss of scores of lives.

The CAA submitted that the authority had proceeded against its officials who were involved in fraudulent activities of bogus pilot licences and the Federal Investigation Agency also lodged cases against these officials and criminal proceedings were pending before trial court.

It stated that CAA has taken concrete measures for verification of pilot licences through biometric and installation of close circuit cameras in examination halls.

The aviation authority submitted that flight operation officers, air traffic controllers, validation of foreign crew licenses, rating endorsement and approved persons exams were conducted by the CAA, while flight crew licence exams have now been outsourced to the UK CAA.

The CAA said that the flight safety department has implemented several measures in response to safety recommendations issued by the aircraft accident investigation board.

It further stated that the final investigation report of the PIA’s PK-8303 air crash publically available on the website of the ministry of aviation and authority regularly calls updates from PIA on the compensation to the legal heirs whose loved ones died in the air crash. It stated that compensation has been provided to legal heirs of 74 passengers while remaining cases are pending due to adjudication in the courts.

The court was informed that CAA took measures for implementation of relevant SOPs by air traffic controller and safety recommendation was also forwarded to air traffic service provider to ensure its implementation at concerned field units.

A high court division bench headed by Chief Justice Mohammad Shafi Siddiqui, after taking the report on record, adjourned the hearing.

The Public Interest Law Association of Pakistan (Pilap) alleged in the petition that the Pakistan International Airlines and the CAA had through their mismanagement and corruption visibly destroyed the aviation industry of the country without any accountability or measure of responsibility towards the people.

Pilap’s counsel submitted that the right to commute was an inalienable right of every citizen being akin to the right to life and trade, so the PIA being the national flag-carrier was obliged to render services because it was founded and funded by the state. So any failure in rendering services directly impinged upon the constitutional rights of every citizen.

The counsel stated that the majority of the families of the victims of the May 22 PIA plane crash in Karachi were impecunious and of poor financial standing, with some of them having lost their sole breadwinners, but the legal heirs of the victims were neither in a position to procure costly legal remedies nor did they possess the requisite knowledge to challenge the actions of the respondents in a court of law.

He submitted that a judicial review of the affairs of the PIA and the CAA was required because they were primarily responsible for causing a loss of millions of rupees to the national exchequer; besides, the loss of lives and properties of hundreds of passengers.

The court was requested to declare that the PIA and the CAA had failed to act diligently in accordance with the PIA Corporation (Conversion) Act 2016, the CAA Ordinance 1982 and the Civil Aviation Rules 1994 to provide the citizens of Pakistan safe, efficient, adequate, economical and properly coordinated civil air transport services and aviation activities.

The petitioners also requested the SHC to constitute a judicial commission with the mandate of placing before the court determination on the mismanagement of the affairs of the PIA and its failure to operate and maintain commercial flight services as mandated by the PIA Corporation (Conversion) Act 2016, the CAA Ordinance 1982 and the Civil Aviation Rules 1994, with the order to the Aviation Division to place the final reports of all the accidents involving the PIA, including PK-8303, before the court.

They sought a declaration that the compensation cap of Rs5 million provided in Rule 21 of the Carriage by Air Act 2012 was discriminatory and ultra vires the constitution, with the order to the Aviation Division to review and revise the compensation limits under Rule 21 and other provisions relating to compensation under the Carriage by Air Act 2012 in line with the Montreal Convention for Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air 1999.