ISLAMABAD, Aug 1 The black box of Airblue's Airbus 321 that slammed into the wooded land of Margalla Hills on July 28 has been found and is expected to provide information that is so important to determine the cause of the tragedy, but the history of inquiries into past air crashes in the country gives little hope that the truth will be made public this time.
The inquiry report of none of the 17 air crashes involving Pakistani commercial carriers since 1947 has been made public. Authorities could not determine the cause of three incidents. Of the remaining 14, they said 'pilot error' had caused nine crashes.
The information gathered through various sources reveals that pilots have been held responsible for air disasters in 64 per cent of the incidents whereas bad weather and technical fault in the aircraft have caused 36 per cent of the disasters.
The causes of three crashes - involving a Pakistan International Airlines' Douglas C-47A aircraft at Lowari Pass on March 26, 1965; PIA's Fokker plane near Shamshernagar in then East Pakistan on Dec 30, 1970, and a Fokker near Gilgit on August 25, 1989 - are still unknown. The wreckage of the Fokker plane carrying 49 passengers and five crews from Gilgit to Islamabad was never found.
Two incidents, investigators believe, have been caused by technical faults in the aircraft. A Douglas DC-3 aircraft operated by Pakistan Airways went down due to a technical fault near Vehari on Nov 26, 1948, killing 21 people onboard. It was the first air disaster in the country's aviation history.
The aircraft was seen trailing smoke before crashing amid flames. The omission of a sealing washer on the carburettor fuel filter of the engine resulting in fuel leak to the ignition system culminated in a severe oil fire which finally reached the main fuel tank.
The crash of PIA's Boeing 707 aircraft in Taif city of Saudi Arabia killing all 156 people, including Haj pilgrims, onboard on Nov 26, 1979 was the second incident determined to have been caused by a technical fault. Only 18 minutes after takeoff from the Jeddah airport for Karachi at around 0147 hours, a stewardess reported a fire near the aft cabin passenger door. The plane was allowed to return to Jeddah. The aircraft issued a Mayday call and crashed at 0203 hours in a rocky area at an elevation of 3,000 feet and burst into flames. What caused the cabin fire remains a mystery.
Experts floated various theories at that time about the origin of the fire. Some believed it might have been caused by a leaking gasoline or kerosene stove, carried by some of the pilgrims. A second possibility was an electrical fire. However, the rapid spread of fire was considered difficult to explain because of the electrical circuit protection devices of the Boeing. Sabotage was also considered as a possibility, but without evidence.
Another unconfirmed report at that time was that the aircraft while attempting to return to Jeddah somehow ended up in the no-fly zone of Taif and was hit by an automatic anti-aircraft missile or rocket due to security reasons.
The first air disaster believed to have been caused by the pilot's error was the crash of Douglas DC-3 aircraft at Jungshahi near Karachi on Dec 12, 1949, killing 26 people. “An error of navigation” on the part of the pilot was reported in the last “position report” of the aircraft, operated by Pakair from Lahore to Karachi.
Pilots were also blamed for the crash of PIA's Convair aircraft in New Delhi on May 15, 1958; of PIA's Vickers aircraft in Karachi on Aug 14, 1959, and involving PIA's Boeing 720 aircraft at Cairo on May 20, 1965.
The crash at Cairo was the first major air disaster in Pakistan's aviation history as it resulted into the death of 119 people. The plane that had taken off from Dhahran in Saudi Arabia for London via Cairo and Geneva, crashed during the final stages of landing at Cairo airport. The pilot had issued no May-day call until the aircraft struck the ground short of the runway.
The biggest aviation disaster todate in the country's history was the crash of PIA's Airbus in Kathmandu on Sept 28, 1992 that killed all 167 people onboard. The flight from Karachi also carried a number of European holidaymakers and mountaineers. The Airbus burst into flames after hitting a hillside while making approach for landing. Kathmandu airport is located in an oval-shaped valley surrounded by mountains and landing there is always considered a difficult task.
The PIA Fokker's crash at the time of landing at night at Peshawar airport on Oct 23, 1986, is believed to have been caused by a mistake committed by the co-pilot. The aircraft undershot the runway and landed in a ditch causing it to break up, resulting in the death of 13 out of 54 passengers and crew members. Later, there were unconfirmed reports that the plane crashed after it was hit by bullets fired during a wedding celebration near the airport.
A combination of bad weather and pilot's error is stated to be the main cause of the PIA Douglas DC-3's crash at Jalkot in Northern Areas on Feb 25, 1956. The DC-3 took off at 2pm from Gilgit and climbed to an altitude of 10,000 feet. The aircraft encountered bad weather conditions as it entered an area surrounded by mountains rising up to 16,700 feet. The plane struck the peak of Lash Golath Mountain near Jalkot village as, investigators believed, the pilot attempted a flight beyond his ability and experience.
On July 10, 2006, a PIA Fokker crashed into a wheat field near Multan after losing one of its engines during takeoff and striking power transmission lines killing 41 people.
The official investigation report, which was never released to the media and quietly handed over to the then prime minister Shaukat Aziz, said that a combination of errors made by the ground staff and the pilot had resulted in the crash of the Lahore-bound aircraft.