July 19, 2006	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 22, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, July 18: Secretary Defence Lt Gen (retired) Tariq Wasim Ghazi on Tuesday told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the federal cabinet’s decision to stop using Fokker aircraft for commercial flights was because of public perception and not because of safety factor.

He further said that it appeared from the attitude of the US government that they did not want to permit ultra-long range direct PIA alights to the States.

Regarding the Fokker issue, he said the aircraft could have been grounded if there were system failures or design problems, but the permission to use them for cargo and other purposes vindicated that the planes were fit for flying.

Mr Ghazi said that Multan crash had nothing to do with the age of the aircraft. He said most of the previous incidents involving Fokkers were because of pilot error. He recalled that the first F-27 of PIA had crashed as early as 1970 and at that time it couldn’t have been because of age factor.

Parliamentary Secretary Defence Maj (retd) Tanveer Hussain reiterated the stance he had taken on the floor of the house that Fokkers were too old to fly. He said the cabinet’s decision was for public safety.

He contended that had the reservations of the members of parliament about Fokker flights been given any consideration, the latest incident in which 45 precious lives were lost could have been averted.

He feared that investigations into Multan crash would make the pilot of the ill-fated aircraft a scapegoat. Mr Tanveer alleged that the calibration of the country’s airports was not proper and the radars were outdated.

This was denied by the defence secretary saying that all airports fully met the international safety procedures.

On the issue of ultra-long range flights to the US, Mr Ghazi said that the requirements given by the US government for security at airports, from where these flights were to originate, were fulfilled though some of the machinery like CTS was difficult to acquire. But once, he said, these conditions were met, the US government came up with a new set of conditions never mentioned before.

“It looks to me that they do not want to permit direct flights,” he said, adding, “A strong reply has been sent to them and the matter is now being taken up at the government to government level.

Questions by MMA legislators about the use of air bases by the US forces for Afghan war inconvenienced the defence secretary. The MMA parliamentarians were pressing for the disclosure of financial benefits accrued from permitting the use of bases.

Though the MMA parliamentarians were adamant that some of the bases were still being used by the coalition forces, Mr Ghazi said the bases were no more in use, but a stand-by arrangement still existed.

PIA PERFORMANCE: The defence secretary informed the PAC that the message for the national flag carrier running into Rs6 billion losses was that “not enough has been done”.

Elaborating on the losses, he said, an unprecedented increase in fuel prices was the major factor, as they made up 40 per cent of the operating cost. “Almost all airlines are losing money except for those who have done hedging or are getting subsidised fuel.”

He said PIA had been told to undertake financial and operational restructuring and cost-cutting initiatives. He cautioned that PIA would continue to remain a victim of worldwide recession in aviation industry. Mr Ghazi said that PIA had been given options of closing uneconomical routes and grounding of inefficient aircraft.