JAVED Khan Traeen painted in his letter a very gloomy picture about civil aviation standards in Pakistan (April 9).

It is true these standards leave much room for improvement, as is the case with almost every other sector in Pakistan. But the condition of the former is not so bad as to deserve this rap, tarnishing almost everything the regulatory body has done or stands for.

Both the crashes were due to pilot error which can happen in the best of circumstances. I do not speak for nor defend the Civil Aviation Authority, and it is true that our navigational and air traffic services do not come up to the high standards of those of Europe or the US yet , these are functioning well, or else the other Pakistani airline would have not maintained a flawless record of flight safety while operating in the so-called bad aviation envoirnment for the last 20 years.

If some foreign airlines have left Pakistan, it is not due to poor aviation standards. It is for economic reasons, coupled with the poor law and order situation.

Let us hope and pray that we improve on both these counts.

S.M.A.         Karachi