PESHAWAR, Feb 19: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday dismissed the plea of around 20 families of victims of Airblue plane crash seeking compensation on the grounds that they had also filed civil suits before the Islamabad High Court.

The bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth observed that these families should pursue their suits before the IHC.

It observed that on the PHC orders compensation of Rs5.5 million to rest of the families of each of killed passengers had already been paid by the Airblue management.

Advocate Abdul Lateef Yousafzai, representing the Airblue management, contended that they had paid compensation to majority of legal heirs of the deceased passengers and only these few were left as they had filed suits before the IHC.

Advocate Omer Farooq Adam, counsel for the petitioners, contended that the case before the IHC was different from the one before the PHC. He argued that the suit before the IHC was for enhanced compensation as the Airblue management had been paying Rs5.5 million whereas under the relevant international laws the compensation was much higher.

PLANE CRASH PROBLE: Earlier, the Safety and Investigation Board (SIB) of Civil Aviation Authority reiterated before the Peshawar High Court that the July 2010 Airblue plane crash had taken place because of the pilot errors and not due to any technical fault in the plane.

The two-member bench was informed by the SIB chairman, Air Commodore Abdul Basit, that record of the plane’s black box showed that the aircrew failed to display superior judgment and professional skills in harsh weather condition that day.

The SIB had submitted a report of inquiry into the plane crash in Dec 2011, detailing pilot errors and inclement weather as the reasons for the crash.

In accordance with an earlier order of the court, Mr Basit and senior legal director of CAA, Obaidur Rehman Abbasi, submitted a bulky report, including transcript of conversation recorded in the black box. They stated that they had sent the black box for inspection to France following which the conversation was reduced to writing first in French and then into English.

They stated that the conversation showed that there was no technical fault in the plane. They added that behaviour of the pilot was harsh with the flying officer present with him in the cockpit.

The bench directed that as the report was comprehensive, they should submit it in a summarised form, mentioning all the important points related to the crash. The bench fixed March 28 for next hearing of the case.

The bench also inquired about development concerning its earlier orders directing the ministry of defence to make legislation for making the SIB an independent and autonomous body. Mr Abbasi stated that the summary in this regard was prepared by the defence ministry and it had been referred to the prime minister for approval. He said that following approval the relevant rules would be amended so as to make the SIB an autonomous body.

The court was hearing a writ petition filed by former MNA Ms Marvi Memon and family members of some of passengers of the ill-fated plane which crashed on July 28, 2010. They have urged the court to order independent inquiry into the crash and provision of appropriate compensation to the bereaved families.