April 13, 2007	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, April 12: Ground navigation machines at most airports in the country need to be calibrated and aligned with aircraft equipment. Notices issued to airmen by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) have revealed that most of the 32 airports in the country are awaiting calibration, including some important ones such as Karachi, Peshawar and Multan.

Aviation experts have expressed doubts about CAA’s claims that calibration work has been carried out adequately at Islamabad, Lahore, Sukkur, Nawabshah and Turbat airports with the help of PAF aircraft. They said that the only well-equipped CAA aircraft that could get the job done crashed in November in Sharjah.

The CAA — being the statutory authority — establishes, operates and maintains air navigation facilities and prescribes standard operating procedures for such machines. The best assurance for proper functioning of these aids is periodic calibration.

The CAA acknowledges this in one of its directives that reads: “(T)he regular and safe operation of all air traffic depends to a great extent on the availability of reliable radio navigational facilities, which have to be tested on regular basis as per the intervals prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.”

The CAA has been ignoring the calibration of airports for several years, and this is widely believed to be one of the factors behind the Multan crash of PK-688 in which 45 people perished. The crash shook the CAA out of deep slumber and calibration of all airports was immediately embarked upon. The officers responsible for the crash were subsequently transferred to cover up this lapse.

Prior to the Multan crash, show official documents, the CAA misled the defence ministry on the issue. The documents reveal that incorrect information provided by Captain Shafqat Mehmood had embarrassed the government in the National Assembly during a debate.

Pakistan Airline Pilots’ Association (Palpa) has expressed its serious concern over the situation. Palpa general-secretary Captain Arif Majeed said calibration according to prescribed intervals is a mandatory requirement without which the pilots may face problems in approaching the runways.

Quoting the example of Islamabad airport, which CAA claims has been calibrated, he said that due to faulty Precision Approach Path Indicators (Papi), pilots coming on a glide slope end up a little higher than required. Pilots have overcome this problem through their experience and new pilots or those coming from abroad may find themselves in a difficult situation, however.