A YEAR on, their families remain distraught and their deaths remain a mystery. The real story behind the loss of the 152 passengers and crew of Airblue flight 202 on July 28, 2010, has yet to emerge. Commenting on the investigation into the crash, the defence minister said last month that the reasons for the incident are now known. In what must have been a deeply frustrating moment for the victims’ families, he also said the report could not yet be made public. Ministry officials informed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Human Rights that the report could not yet be provided to them for legal reasons. But given the high-profile stakeholders involved — the airline, the Civil Aviation Authority and Airbus, the plane’s manufacturer — the delays in conducting the investigation and making it public are enough to fuel speculation that vested interests are trying to avoid blame. This potential refusal to accept responsibility comes at the cost of closure for the victims’ loved ones and will delay the implementation of measures to improve flight safety for Pakistani travellers in the future.

The committee also raised the issue of compensation for the affected families, who claim that the airline had only slowly released the immediate compensation and has not yet provided the second, larger instalments to all legal heirs. This process is reportedly bogged down by the red tape involved in obtaining succession certificates. The airline and the Capital Development Authority have taken steps to commemorate the first anniversary of the crash; a memorial service will be held and a monument will be inaugurated at the crash site. But more needs to be done: the process of obtaining succession certificates for the affected families and handing out compensation to them should be expedited, and the investigation report must be made public immediately.