RAWALPINDI: A four-member team of the International Air Transport Association’s Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) team arrived in Karachi late Saturday night on a week-long audit inspection visit.

The team will start an operational safety audit of different departments of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), including flight operation, safety and security, passenger service and engineering on Monday.

According to sources, the team will spend most of its time in Karachi and is likely to visit the crash site of PIA flight PK-8303 and interview people related to flight operation and engineering.

It will also check the measures adopted by the airline to maintain safety and security of its operation on the ground and in the air.

The operational safety audit is carried out every two years, with the last audit conducted in 2018.

The audit programme was designed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in 2003 to assess operational management and control systems of the airlines.

Prior to the team’s visit, the PIA management made necessary preparations and removed inoperable aircraft and equipment from the apron of Karachi’s Jinnah International Air­port and also covered the debris of the PIA plane A320 that crashed into a residential area in the city on May 22.

According to an initial report, the disaster was a result of human error, which resulted in the death of 97 people. Only two passengers survived.

The audit team will be briefed on PIA’s fleet, which comprises Airbus A320, ATR and Boeing 777, and the aircrafts' condition.

Besides, the team is expected to check the procedure adopted for maintaining safety of aircraft on the ground and in the air.

It will also be informed about the plane crashes that took place in Pakistan during the last five years.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2020