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LAHORE, May 19: The incidents of ‘near-miss’ of aeroplanes have increased multifold during the last year, it is learnt. Sources in the Air Traffic Controllers wing of the Civil Aviation Authority informed Dawn on Thursday that during 2001-03 the total number of near-miss incidents of domestic and international flights was reported to be 30. During 2004, however, around 25 such incidents took place, they said.
They, however, did not reveal the names of the airlines whose planes were involved in the near-miss, describing it as an “official secret.”
According to some ATC wing officials, high mental stress on the controllers was the prime factor for the increase in the near-miss incidents.
“The ATC is given priority over other wings of an aviation all over the world, but in Pakistan the case is altogether different,” they claimed.
They said the ATC was generating 90 per cent of the overall revenue for the CAA. Most of its officers were not performing their duties to their full potential, as they had been denied promotions for the last 15 years, the sources said.
They claimed that the officers of the other wings of the CAA were given promotions after every two years. The other CAA wing’s license holders were being paid 125 per cent allowances of their pays.
After performing their duties on radar, they said, a majority of the controllers had become medically unfit but still were doing their jobs.
They have urged the authorities concerned to look into the matter and redress their grievances, expressing fear that the existing situation may lead to any air disaster.
At present, some 300 controllers are working in the ATC wing across the country.
A senior CAA officer told Dawn on the request of anonymity that after the installation of some latest equipment in the aircraft the risk of collision had been minimized.
Regrading the mental stress on the ACT officers, he added that the people engaged in this profession throughout the world worked under stress.
GO-BY-BOOK: Meanwhile, the ATC wing’s adoption of go-by-book is causing delay in the arrival and departure of scores of domestic and international flights.
Since the implementation of this procedure in April, over 200 domestic and 50 international flights have been delayed. The ATC had adopted the procedure to lodge their protest with the CAA. The CAA director-general reportedly met the ATC representative on Thursday and assured them that their grievances would be redressed.
