KARACHI: At least 45 crew members — working in cockpit and cabin — of the Shaheen Air International (SAI) have violated the flight duty time limitation (FDTL) and flown for more than the time prescribed under the law during January, which is a serious air safety hazard, it emerged on Monday.

Sources said it was the responsibility of the regulator — Civil Aviation Authority — to ensure that the airlines crew did not cross the monthly 100-hour FDTL.

They added that the airlines violated the FDTL with impunity as for the past many months, the CAA had no permanent official, director for flight standards, to ensure that rules were followed and air safety was not compromised.

Responding to Dawn queries, a senior SAI official said some of the crew had crossed the limit during January but it would be ensured that such incidents did not recur.

The sources said the FDTL was imposed on the crew so that they had proper rest and were fresh when resumed work, as a fatigued crew on board an aircraft was a disaster because it could not assist/ guide the passengers in case of an emergency.

The nine SAI pilots — captains and first officers — who have violated the FDTL of 100 hours during January are: 1) Capt Piva Nicola (who has flown 119 hours and 50 minutes); 2) first officer Masood Aslam (110.36 hours); 3) FO Sajjad Raza (108.43 hours); 4) FO Kobeda (108.42 hrs); 5) FO Mazhar Depar (106.51 hrs); 6) FO Tariq Nafees (105.53 hrs); 7) FO Elie Chamoun (104.36 hrs); 8) Capt Adnan (101.35 hrs) and 9) Capt Faheem Ahmed (100.59 hrs).

Among the 36 cabin crew members — airhostesses and stewards — lead cabin crew (LCC) member Sumaira Munawar has turned out to be “most hard-working” with 118.41 flying hours (some 18.41 hours more than the prescribed time by the CAA) during January 2014.

The sources said the rest of the 36 cabin crew members violating the FDTL during the month were: 1) LCC Iqra Zahid (108.35 hours); 3) LCC Ayesha Riaz (104.59 hrs); 4) LCC Tahira Niaz (109.37 hrs); 5) LCC Anum Shahid (103.15 hrs); 6) LCC Banafsha Rashid (110.50 hrs); 7) LCC Falak Shahzadi (109.35 hrs); 8) LCC Sadia Samson (100.50 hrs); 9) cabin crew (CC) Adnan Raza (101.10 hrs); 10) CC Mahreen Karimi (101.07 hrs); 11) CC Anum Hayat (106.24 hrs); 12) CC Misha Kanwal (106.24 hrs); 13) CC Kiran Samia (100.20 hrs); 14) CC Asma Siddique (107.01 hrs); 15) CC Iqra Rafique (106.28 hrs); 16) CC Waqas Khan (105.55 hrs); 17) CC Asma Ashraf (101.05 hrs); 18) CC Mehnaz Akram (101.10 hrs); 19) CC Sadia Aslam (105.15 hrs); 20) CC Mohammad Asad Khan (108.54 hrs); 21) CC Inam Ullah (111.48); 22) CC Sonia Bibi (100.11); 23) CC Amna Saeed Butt (101.36 hrs); 24) CC Iqra Salman (102.23 hrs); 25) CC Hira Parvaiz (108.22 hrs); 26) CC Rushna Babar (105.40 hrs); 27) CC Sidra Shah (102.23 hrs); 28) CC Faiza Shafique (102.47 hrs); 29) CC Rabia Zia (107.06); 30) CC Maryam Mazhar (101.08 hrs); 31) CC Saba Sultan (102.47 hrs); 32) CC Ramsha Khan (104.52 hrs); 33) CC Faiza Hasan (101.33 hrs); 34) CC Reena Koreena Manzoor (104 hrs); 35) CC Qandil Ahmed (100.29 hrs) and 36) CC Komal Ahsan (103.57 hrs).

When contacted, SAI deputy managing director Faisal Rafique confirmed to Dawn that some of the crew members had flown more than 100 hours during January 2014. He explained that the SAI had faced crew shortage because some crew members had left the organisation and moved to a Gulf airline. In the situation, he added, so some crew members had to work more. But the situation had been controlled after January, he said, claiming that not a single crew member had flown more than 100 hours a month since then.

The sources said that this was not an isolated case but the SAI had been in a habit of compelling its crew members to fly more and in the process violated the FDTL.

Only last year, they said, the CAA had imposed a fine of over Rs5.4 million on the airline and had grounded various cockpit as well as cabin crew members, many of whom had to undergo medical check-ups also, for violating the FDTL.

But the CAA was currently ‘overlooking’ the violations by the airline which had hired the services of a close relative of a top CAA official on a hefty salary, the sources added.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2014