KARACHI: An official of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has compromised air safety rules on more than one occasions but no action has been taken against him because of his connections with those who matter, according to inside sources.
They said that flight inspector Arif Majeed had flown a passenger flight though he was not authorised to do so. In another incident, he allowed a woman passenger to enter the cockpit. The two acts are in violation of the aviation rules and considered to be safety hazards.
Sources said that by compromising air safety, Mr Majeed had put lives of passengers aboard the plane at risk. Had the aircraft crashed while being flown by an unauthorised person, no insurance would have been paid to heirs of the passengers and the airline to which the plane belonged.
According to sources, a senior CAA official issued a show-cause notice to Mr Majeed but he did not bother to respond. No punitive action was taken against Mr Majeed.
The sources said that the notice was issued by the CAA’s principal director, Mohammad Zia Khan, on Oct 2, 2013. It says: “It has been noted with great concern that you (Mr Majeed) are not observing the code of conduct and ethics expected from a flight inspector.
“(i) You do not observe the office timings; (ii) allowed a lady passenger to enter the cockpit while you were detailed on a commercial airline’s flight to ensure safety and compliance to rules/regulations; and (iii) in complete disregard of Rule 197–2 (c) of Civil Aviation Rules (CAR) 1994 you illegally operated a commercial flight which is in violation of Civil Aviation Rules and a safety hazard.”
The notice asked Mr Majeed to explain in three days why disciplinary action should not be taken against him. He failed to respond to the notice but no action was taken against him because of his connections with “powerful” officials, the sources said.
CAA spokesman Abid Kaimkhani could not be contacted for comments despite efforts.
