Zulfi Bukhari slams int’l media for irresponsible reporting on PIA crash

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari has criticised the international media for its reporting of the air crash investigation regarding Pakistan International Airline (PIA) flight PK-8303 in Karachi.

In a statement on Twitter, Bukhari said he was disappointed at the international media for “irresponsible” reporting on the air crash investigation.

He added that PIA has been systematically destroyed by years of nepotism and poltical hiring and it was the first time that the government had unearthed the truth. He said the Prime Minister Imran Imran deserved credit for “clearing years of mess by all mafias”.

READ MORE: PIA plane was fit to fly, pilot held responsible for crash

The special assistant was referring to reporting in various international media outlets which criticised the handling of the air crash investigation in Karachi.

A preliminary report of the investigation found the pilot an air traffic controller responsible for the incident. Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar informed the National Assembly that the pilot appeared overconfident and was discussing the coronavirus crisis with his co-pilot as it affected his family.

The international media has also criticised reports that PIA has grounded 150 pilots for fake or dubious licences who continued to operate flights in the country.

‘Extraordinary’ story in aviation

Renowned aviation journalist Richard Quest has termed report a third of Pakistani pilots having fake licenses was the most “extraordinary story in aviation history”

“It is not prevalent elsewhere. This is the most extraordinary story in aviation. Dubious licenses. ‘Fake’ licenses — how the investigators put it in the Pakistan aircraft investigation,” he said, adding that a third of PIA pilots did not have the correct licencing.

READ MORE: Almost 262 pilots with dubious licenses to be grounded: Ghulam Sarwar

He clarified that pilots flying the crashed aircraft did have licenses, the journalist said “there was a raft of other incompetent issues in the way they were flying the plane.”

He said the fact that Pakistan is admitting there are pilots with dubious licenses in the airline sector “beggars belief” and raises serious questions about the safety of airline operations in Pakistan.

Regarding similar cases elsewhere in the world, he said there have been isolated cases where pilots have been flying on forged or outdated documents but they very good pilots without the right paperwork.

“This is not that case, this is a case of wholesale fraud.” he said. “People flying that shouldn’t have been flying — it’s a scandal.”