Aviation News, Headlines & Alerts
 
Category: <span>Air Blue</span>

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Airblue Flight Returns to Islamabad After Bird Strike

Airblue flight PA-274 had to return and make an emergency landing in Islamabad, Pakistan, on January 30th.

The Airbus A321-200 plane took off for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but had to return shortly afterwards due to a bird strike.

The plane landed uneventfully. All passengers and crew members remained safe.


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Blue Air Plane Returns to Romania after Bird Strike

Blue Air flight 08-113 had to return and make an emergency landing at Henri Coand? International Airport, Romania, on May 9th.

The Boeing 737-400 flying to Valencia, Spain, had to return after burning off fuel due to bird strike.

The plane landed safely.

All 143 people aboard remained safe.

Airblue Flight Rejects Take-Off After Bird Strike

Airblue flight PA-872 had to reject take off from Multan, Pakistan, on March 21st.

The Airbus A320-200 plane was accelerating to take off for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, when one of the engines ingested a bird, forcing the crew to abort take off.

The plane safely returned to the apron. Everyone aboard remained safe.


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Remembering AirBlue Flight 202

On July 28, Air Blue Flight 202 crashed in the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad. It was the last flight ever for 146 passengers and six crew. The accident happened during a July rainstorm six years ago, I believe the people aboard should be remembered.

The only survivors were the family members. No one aboard lived.

That means that the families of 152 people have had to learn to live with the memories of their loved ones. Most of them have probably traveled to the memorial to see their loved ones names written in stone. Stone will remember what people may forget.

The accident has been labeled pilot error, but those are just words. Some called the fatal flaw CRM, which is an acronym referring to how well the crew inter-managed resources, i.e. themselves. The final report has been completed and filed and put away.

And the victims are still dead. I could wish for a world of magic reality where the investigation would solve some thing, and somehow put the passengers back in their lives. Or even better, change the events of the past so that the flight never happened.

But magic reality does not exist. All that exists is the truth of what happened, the lessons of the past, and the hope that the aviation industry learned whatever it could to prevent such accidents in the future.

The tragedy is a stain on 2010, and forever a wound in the hearts of the families of those whose lives were pointlessly lost. Families, please know that even if the accident is no longer in the global eye, we are so sorry for your loss. No one can say it better than John Donne:

Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

Airblue Plane’s Tire Burst During Landing in Islamabad

Air BlueAirblue Airbus A321-200 narrowly escaped accident when one of its tires burst upon landing at Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 4th.

The aircraft was coming from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, when one of the tires burst during landing. The plane tilted toward its side and the right hand engine touched the ground.

There were 230 passengers aboard the flight PA-271 at the time; all of them remained safe.


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AirBlue Flight 202 Remembered

This day, July 28 is carved in history as the day 146 passengers and six crew boarded an Air Blue plane to Islamabad Pakistan. They arrived in heavy rain going the wrong direction and flew into a hillside. They arrived, but they went up in a cloud of blue fire and black smoke. They arrived, but the families who were waiting for them in 2010 will be waiting forever.

Airblue Flight 202 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight which crashed on 28 July 2010. We can remember the crash, and write it on our calendars to remember the event again next year, and the year after that. Our remembrance, unlike all the kings horses and all the kings men, will not put together those who were lost; but it will give us an opportunity to also recall the report of the crash. That report is notorious now; it was missing transcripts, black box recordings, and evidence. It was repudiated by the Peshawar High Court, a landmark pronouncement in itself. The lack of transparency, the lack of scholarship and truth has consequences in future Airblue and Pakistan flights. This is because, in order to fix the problems, problems must be reviewed, analyzed, taken apart, studied, examined in the clear light of day. Problems are opportunities for correction. The examination of such flaws is the only way that future tragedies can be prevented.

It is probably the saddest thing of all that the problems on this flight could have been prevented with adequate CRM (crew resource management) training. Simply put, CRM is methodology designed to improve efficiency. A crew well-trained in CRM knows how to step up and handle issues when the pilot in control has lost touch, as it appears happened on Flight 202.

We can only hope that Air Blue and other Pakistani air carriers are now undergoing adequate CRM training that will give flight crews procedures that will enable them to survive.

To the families who lost loved ones and friends in this tragedy, let us all again make our condolences. We can only hope that time will ease your loss.


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Air blue Crash Heirs Case Hits Immobile Object

If you’re wondering about the Airblue 202 case, it has run into the politics of Pakistan. The situation has been piled high with difficulty. Even though I am an optimist and see opportunity in every difficulty, even though I have a great team of attorneys in Pakistan, and a great team here in the states coordinating on this case, there comes a time when we must realize where we stand. Despite our efforts, with the present laws and political situation, helping the families is like patching shattered glass with paste. It has been a very difficult to make things stick. Or to change metaphors, it has been an uphill climb.

The Flight: 28 July 2010, Airbus A321, Air Blue Fight 202, en route from Karachi to Islamabad

146 passengers and 6 crew members flew into a mountain near the airport. Witnesses wondered why it seemed as if “the plane had lost balance, and then we saw it going down.”

Why it was flying so low? Why did it strike the mountain? Audio and a report were released that seemed to answer those question—lack of coordination in the flight crew.

Our study of the audio indicates the pilots are served tea early on, then…

  • Confusion ensues in the cockpit, caused by some unknown reason.
  • Wrong settings introduced into the settings that were already abnormal.
  • A tower operator who had gone for coffee was complacent.
  • Aircraft flew lower than normal.
  • Abnormal personality traits/interaction reflecting mistakes in the cockpit.
  • Weather and apprehension and strange out of norm complacency by the FO when he realizes they are going to die

When the audio was released and studied, it became clear there was no teamwork between the pilot Perve Iqbal Chaudhary and the first officer Muntajib Ahmed.

The pilot had 35 years and more than 25,000 hours of flying experience but made inexplicable mistakes and demeaned the co-pilot. The first officer was aware of the danger and tried to amend the situation but he had been so disheartened beforehand by sharp questions putting the first officer “in his place.”

He was unaccountably meek for a former F-16 Pakistan Air Force fighter pilot. The pilot did not properly respond to Air Traffic Control directives and automated cabin warning systems and flew the plane into a mountain. Air Traffic Control responses were less than professional. The first officer appeared helpless and ineffective.

On January 17,2013, two and a half years after the accident, the Peshawar High Court closed proceedings for the Airblue compensation case.

Counsel was directed to withdraw the client’s petition from the Islamabad High Court or the the Peshawar High Court. The client refused to do so on the basis that the cases were different. The court closed the case because the heirs of the victims had had filed an independent lawsuit at Islamabad High Court.

We believed the Airblue compensation case had merit. The pilot committed the error. The first officer was ineffective. They were Airblue employees.

Yes, there was pilot error, but the airline is doubly responsible, because the flight crew did not have adequate CRM training. (COCKPIT Resource Management/Crew Resource Management) Absolutely what happened in the case was the result of the airline failing to establish a working protocol.

It’s like children at school practicing a fire drill so they know what to do when a crisis occurs. Fire drills save lives. They prevent missteps in the face of danger. They give the people in trouble a set of directions to follow that will get them out of the jam they are in. A drill answers questions ahead of time, so precious time is not wasted figuring out what to do. Without the drill, what happens when disaster strikes? Chaos. Loss of life.

I feel bad for the people. First they lose their families. Then they don’t get all the compensation available to them.

Take a look at the safety recommendations from the report (pasted below).

See how 3.1-3.5 and 3.7 all duplicate the same working environment issue? Investigators recognize the troubled working environment. Today’s flight crews are taught CRM which means they have safe practices in place in case the captain is incapacitated and starts to fly into mountains like the captain of Air Blue 202.

But realistically, will recommendations change AirBlue? Will Air Blue be able to implement non-traditional interpersonal relations on the job? And if they can not, how will they ever fly safely with a first officer culturally unable to do his job?

The first officer was ineffective in securing the plane; and sadly, the court appears to be equally as ineffective in getting justice for some of the heirs of the victims.

Re: Investigation Report -AB-202 CHAPTER – 13 :

SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS

13.1 All aircrew be re-briefed on CFIT avoidance and Circling Approach procedures
and a strict implementation of this procedure be ensured through an intensive
monitoring system.

13.2 Aircrew scheduling and pairing being a critical subject be preferably handled /
supervised by Flight Operations.

13.3 The implementation of an effective CRM program be ensured and the syllabus of
CRM training be reviewed in line with international standards.

13.4 Existing aircrew training methodology be catered for standardization and
harmonization of procedures.

13.5 Human factor / personality profiling program for aircrew be introduced to predict
their behaviour under crises.

13.6 Instrument landing procedure for RWY-12 be established, if possible.

13.7 Safety Management System be implemented in ATS as per the spirit of the ICAO
document (doc. 4444).

13.8 New Islamabad International Airport (NIIA) be completed and made functional on
priority

13.9 Visual augment system (Approach Radar Scope) be installed in control tower to
monitor the positions and progress of aircraft flying in the circuit.

13.10 Review of the existing Regulations for the compensation and their expeditious
award to the legal heirs of the victims be ensured.

13.11 Adequacy of SIB resources comprising qualified human resource and equipment
be reviewed.

13.12 Information to public on the progress of the investigation process through the
media by trained / qualified investigators of SIB be ensured on regular intervals.

13.13 NDMA be tasked to acquire in-country airlift capability for removal of wreckage
from difficult terrain like Margalla etc. As an interim arrangement, some foreign
sources be earmarked for making such an arrangements on as and when
required basis.

13.14 Civil Police Department be tasked to work out and ensure effective cordoning and
onsite security arrangements of crashed aircraft wreckage at all the places
specially remote / difficult hilly locations.

13.15 Environment Control Department be directed to recover the ill effects of
deterioration / damages caused to Marghalla hill due to the crash.


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Airblue Crash Heirs Case Hits Immobile Object

If you’re wondering about the Airblue 202 case, it has run into the politics of Pakistan. The situation has been piled high with difficulty. Even though I am an optimist and see opportunity in every difficulty, even though I have a great team of attorneys in Pakistan, and a great team here in the states coordinating on this case, there comes a time when we must realize where we stand. Despite our efforts, with the present laws and political situation, helping the families is like patching shattered glass with paste. It has been a very difficult to make things stick. Or to change metaphors, it has been an uphill climb.

The Flight: 28 July 2010, Airbus A321, Air Blue Fight 202, en route from Karachi to Islamabad

146 passengers and 6 crew members flew into a mountain near the airport. Witnesses wondered why it seemed as if “the plane had lost balance, and then we saw it going down.”

Why it was flying so low? Why did it strike the mountain? Audio and a report were released that seemed to answer those question—lack of coordination in the flight crew.

Our study of the audio indicates the pilots are served tea early on, then…

  • Confusion ensues in the cockpit, caused by some unknown reason.
  • Wrong settings introduced into the settings that were already abnormal.
  • A tower operator who had gone for coffee was complacent.
  • Aircraft flew lower than normal.
  • Abnormal personality traits/interaction reflecting mistakes in the cockpit.
  • Weather and apprehension and strange out of norm complacency by the FO when he realizes they are going to die

When the audio was released and studied, it became clear there was no teamwork between the pilot Perve Iqbal Chaudhary and the first officer Muntajib Ahmed.

The pilot had 35 years and more than 25,000 hours of flying experience but made inexplicable mistakes and demeaned the co-pilot. The first officer was aware of the danger and tried to amend the situation but he had been so disheartened beforehand by sharp questions putting the first officer “in his place.”

He was unaccountably meek for a former F-16 Pakistan Air Force fighter pilot. The pilot did not properly respond to Air Traffic Control directives and automated cabin warning systems and flew the plane into a mountain. Air Traffic Control responses were less than professional. The first officer appeared helpless and ineffective.

On January 17,2013, two and a half years after the accident, the Peshawar High Court closed proceedings for the Airblue compensation case.

Counsel was directed to withdraw the client’s petition from the Islamabad High Court or the the Peshawar High Court. The client refused to do so on the basis that the cases were different. The court closed the case because the heirs of the victims had had filed an independent lawsuit at Islamabad High Court.

We believed the Airblue compensation case had merit. The pilot committed the error. The first officer was ineffective. They were Airblue employees.

Yes, there was pilot error, but the airline is doubly responsible, because the flight crew did not have adequate CRM training. (COCKPIT Resource Management/Crew Resource Management) Absolutely what happened in the case was the result of the airline failing to establish a working protocol.

It’s like children at school practicing a fire drill so they know what to do when a crisis occurs. Fire drills save lives. They prevent missteps in the face of danger. They give the people in trouble a set of directions to follow that will get them out of the jam they are in. A drill answers questions ahead of time, so precious time is not wasted figuring out what to do. Without the drill, what happens when disaster strikes? Chaos. Loss of life.

I feel bad for the people. First they lose their families. Then they don’t get all the compensation available to them.

Take a look at the safety recommendations from the report (pasted below).

See how 3.1-3.5 and 3.7 all duplicate the same working environment issue? Investigators recognize the troubled working environment. Today’s flight crews are taught CRM which means they have safe practices in place in case the captain is incapacitated and starts to fly into mountains like the captain of Air Blue 202.

But realistically, will recommendations change AirBlue? Will Air Blue be able to implement non-traditional interpersonal relations on the job? And if they can not, how will they ever fly safely with a first officer culturally unable to do his job?

The first officer was ineffective in securing the plane; and sadly, the court appears to be equally as ineffective in getting justice for some of the heirs of the victims.

Re: Investigation Report -AB-202 CHAPTER – 13 :

SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS

13.1 All aircrew be re-briefed on CFIT avoidance and Circling Approach procedures
and a strict implementation of this procedure be ensured through an intensive
monitoring system.

13.2 Aircrew scheduling and pairing being a critical subject be preferably handled /
supervised by Flight Operations.

13.3 The implementation of an effective CRM program be ensured and the syllabus of
CRM training be reviewed in line with international standards.

13.4 Existing aircrew training methodology be catered for standardization and
harmonization of procedures.

13.5 Human factor / personality profiling program for aircrew be introduced to predict
their behaviour under crises.

13.6 Instrument landing procedure for RWY-12 be established, if possible.

13.7 Safety Management System be implemented in ATS as per the spirit of the ICAO
document (doc. 4444).

13.8 New Islamabad International Airport (NIIA) be completed and made functional on
priority

13.9 Visual augment system (Approach Radar Scope) be installed in control tower to
monitor the positions and progress of aircraft flying in the circuit.

13.10 Review of the existing Regulations for the compensation and their expeditious
award to the legal heirs of the victims be ensured.

13.11 Adequacy of SIB resources comprising qualified human resource and equipment
be reviewed.

13.12 Information to public on the progress of the investigation process through the
media by trained / qualified investigators of SIB be ensured on regular intervals.

13.13 NDMA be tasked to acquire in-country airlift capability for removal of wreckage
from difficult terrain like Margalla etc. As an interim arrangement, some foreign
sources be earmarked for making such an arrangements on as and when
required basis.

13.14 Civil Police Department be tasked to work out and ensure effective cordoning and
onsite security arrangements of crashed aircraft wreckage at all the places
specially remote / difficult hilly locations.

13.15 Environment Control Department be directed to recover the ill effects of
deterioration / damages caused to Marghalla hill due to the crash.

Remembering Air Blue Flight 202

used
On July 28, 2010, families waited for their loved ones at Benazir Bhutto International Airport. An accident happened, and they never disembarked. That was the day exactly two years ago that 152 people aboard Air Blue flight 202 lost their lives crashing into the Margalla Hills.

There is not much good that can be said of a tragedy like this. The memory is burned like a brand into the hearts of family members, beginning a nightmare of chaos and confusion, of grief and shock that never ends. Some of the families learned right away, might even have heard the impact, saw the smoke, heard the crash. Some of the families were waiting at home, and learned later of their loss. All of them waited for loved ones who would never come home again. Some of them feel like they are still waiting, still listening for a footstep they will never hear again.

They may have heard that the plane had made 13,500 flights. They might have asked themselves why was it not 13,501 flights? Why not 13,499? If the plane had made one more or one fewer flight, their loved ones would not have been aboard. They have asked themselves a thousand questions, wondering what happened in the cockpit, and why. They may have learned terms like CRM (cockpit resource management), which is a way the flight crew is trained to communicate more effectively amongst themselves, leading to better outcomes. The CRM aboard flight 202 was not what it should have been.

They have found that official reports say how something happened. But they do not answer the questions in a human soul asking why their beloved——father, mother, sister, brother, husband, wife, child——had to die.

Now that two years have passed, the families have had two years to accustom themselves to their loss. Two years seems so long, and yet it is hardly time enough to process a loss that is forever. And while it is true that the accident is the beginning of a tragedy that has no ending, the nightmare does fade.

But this is what I have learned, after seeing so many tragic accidents. It takes time. In the beginning, the families make it through one day at a time. Time helps to ease the pain, and allows family members again learn to feel the sun, and not feel guilty for it; it takes time to learn the survival skill of illuminating the dark with sweet memories without feeling the grief; it takes time to find beauty in the world again. It takes time to relearn how to laugh, and not feel guilty for laughing.

This is the job of the survivors. To continue. To live on. We grow stronger every day. When it comes down to it, we are all survivors. Maybe we have not all lost loved ones in a plane crash, but we have all loved and lost. And this is my message: Our survival is nothing to feel guilty for; it is our responsibility. It is a precious gift. Let us hold tight to the hands that are still here, and share the love. In every new moment of our lives, we do not walk alone. When we see a new sunset or sunrise, when we hear the laughter of a child, when we begin to see the vivid colors of life again, we do not see or feel these things alone. We carry with us the spirits of those we love.


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Air Blue Emergency Landing in Karachi


Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Stelios Ioannou

What: Airblue Airbus A319-100 en route from Karachi to Peshawar
Where: Karachi
When: May 4th 2012
Why: After take-off, the flight developed cabin pressure problems.

Pilots returned to Karachi and made a safe landing.


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Air Blue Families Safety Activists

As long as we’re talking about efforts made toward safer skies in Pakistan, we should mention Hans Ephraimson-Abt, the Air Crash Victims Families Group and the Air Blue Families which have been instrumental in:

  • Obtaining interesting progressive and unprecedented rulings from the Peshwar High Court;
  • Obtaining from the Government and Parliament, with the input of the Air Blue 202 families, a new progressive new Air Law;
  • “Lessons Learned” from past experiences;
  • 118 victims in BOJAH B4-123 were positively identified within 24 hours (in the fastest proceedings of other tragedies substantial ID took 4 days in Comair 191 (Lexington, KY);
  • The first 18 burials took place within 24 hours (Saturday);
  • 35 more burials and services could be conducted on Sunday;
  • The Government mandated the inspection of all commercial planes with the exception of PIA that had already been inspected previously.

    I can not emphasize too much how important the Family Association can be. A strong Family Association meets regularly and develops strategies to make sure that their voice is heard. They have a forum to express valid criticisms of flying conditions, the investigation, or other concerns that may develop. What is more important is that sometimes they have the strength to affect change to avoid future tragedies—as they are working to do in Pakistan. And when one Family Association has successes, it can be “catching”.

    In a recent case in Brazil, the Family Association pressured not only the airline company but the military, federal aviation department, and the airport commission all of whom were suspected to have contributed to the accident. The association pushed for criminal prosecution of those who were negligent, as well as against those who allowed wrongdoing to occur. And they didn’t stop there. Leaders like the secretary of Associação Brasileira de Parentes e Amigos das Vítimas de Acidentes Aéreo Christophe Haddad—who lost his fourteen year old daughter to the Tam crash—lend their experience and passion for justice—to other families struck down by tragedy. As Christophe recently told me “Again and again we see the same picture. Pain, sorrow, tragedy, families broken…Hard to comment about but here we are again.”

    With help from men like Christophe Haddad and Hans Ephraimson-ABT, the Air Blue Family Association is developing its own teachers, leaders, and power of influence. In Pakistan, we look forward to when the Air Blue Family Association may become equally as instrumental a force for change in Pakistan as the Brazil group is in Brazil. There is power in right. There is strength in numbers.

    Since 1985, Hans Ephraimson-ABT has been the Chairman of “The American Association for Families of KAL007 Victims.” Since 2000 he has been the spokesman for the “Air Crash Victims Families Group” and is also an invited observer delegate at the “International Civil Aviation Organization.” His group is a model for other groups, and he is a frequent spokesman. He has stakeholder status at the European Union. During the past 26 years, he has participated and served in various capacities in workgroups at the National Security Council, the National Economic Council, two Presidential Commissions, the Task Force that implemented the “Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996” and subsequently the ICAO “Guide on Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and their Families” of 2001. He has been invited to testify before Committees of the US Senate and the House of Representatives. He was one of the original members of the air carrier focus groups that developed and subsequently implemented post-crash crisis management plans in the United States. Since 1996, he has been asked to assist airlines and governments with the resolution of air transportation tragedies, including the “September 11, 2001 Victims Compensation Fund” and as the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the “Families of September 11th Association.” He is often invited to participate and speak at international conferences and he is a published author. He is not a disinterested observer in the fight for aviation safety. He is a survivor. In 1983, his daughter Alice Ephraimson-Abt was aboard Korean Air Lines Flight 007 when it was shot down by a Soviet pilot.


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    AirBlue in Defiance of Court

    Although the court has ordered compensation, a spokesman of victims told the Peshawar High Court that “AirBlue has communicated to petitioners that compensation will be given to them once they step down and cases are withdrawn from court.” AirBlue also asked for a “universal relief agreement” release form for the 152 companies potentially responsible banning victims from suing.

    The chief justice advised the victims rep to file an application of contempt of court, and promised to continue the case until every heir is compensated.

    In George’s Point of View


    AirBlue should be taking the high road on this, and stop dragging their feet. The tragedy brought to a halt the lives of too many, robbed families of their futures. How can any of these families affected ever have any peace? Why—after already causing the ultimate harm to the victims, and the families of victims—must the airline do everything in their power to make the situation even worse?

    From the moment we are infants who learn to trust our feet to carry us, standing at the sides of our cribs, toddling across our parent’s floors into schools, and adulthood and life beyond, we are only able to stand on our own feet, to walk on our own feet, to negotiate the ground beneath us because we learn a sense of control. We know where the ground is, which way is up. We learn where we can place our feet just so, how to move, to balance, and how to negotiate the rules and laws and physics of the real world so that we can take the next step in our lives, and the next, and the next. All of this occurs because we learn to trust our environment, to trust ourselves in it.

    A tragic event like a plane crash turns our perceptions, our world, our lives inside out. It turns the ground to the ceiling. Our perception of reality is instantly distorted, turning peace and family into an ongoing horror. How can we take the next step when the ground beneath us has been stolen away?

    A tragedy like this shocks everyone–not just the families, but everyone who learns of the event–we are all left with the sense of being a boat unmoored, with the knowledge of a loss of control of the setting and circumstance of our lives. Everyone who learns of a crash like that of Air Blue faces a realization of the frailty of life. The word “shock” is appropriate, for the sensation is not unlike a zap of electricity that sizzles our nerve endings. For those of us who did not lose anyone, we may have an instant jolt, an instant awareness an instant empathy of the depth of grief, horror, pain suffered by survivors; but for survivors that jolt is no instant. It stretches on indefinitely into a future rendered bleak and dead.

    Healing may come; a sense of life may return, or even a sense of carpe diem. But even with healing, there is a loss of innocence, a loss of trust in life, in belief of “the future” because, after all, how grim the future is without our loved ones in it.

    For the families, reparation can never be made. How can they truly be “repaired” if the loved ones they lost can never be returned? The sense of the wholeness of their lives is forever a shattered glass. It is the responsibility for Jet Blue (and even for any of the 152 companies who are indeed partially responsible) to deliver promise instead of excuse, blessing instead of denial, empowerment instead of refusal, expedition instead of delay.

    There is a lot of guilt and responsibility sitting squarely in the lap of Air Blue.


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    Air Blue Chided by Sindh High Court


    The Sindh High Court Issued a demand for the public release of Air Blue’s report of the crash inMargalla Hills on July 28, 2010.

    152 died in that crash in July of 2010, nearly a year and a half ago, and the report has still not been released.

    Whatever the errors were that occurred, the report should have been released by now, especially after Air Blue made several commitments to release dates of that report. Full disclosure of accident reports is really the only way to learn from the past, and prevent future incidents. Also, it is unnecessarily cruel to keep families of the victims waiting, some of whom who are engaged in lawsuits whose results won’t be determined until after the reports are released.

    Airblue’s CEO did not appear in court, even though his presence was specifically requested by the court. A lawyer, Masood A Khan, appeared in his stead and requested more time.

    Airblue 202 A Year Later


    India’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued a statement which they are calling an interim report. It is not what we would call an interim report, but appears to be a report that there is a report that restates the facts as they were known already, not containing actual investigation output. The media has already highlighted the findings of the interim report several times. The report notes that the investigation covered system issues, fire, bird strikes, etc but does not mention causes or place responsibility, and promises a release when component manufacturers have responded.

    So basically, the families have waited a year for the Air Blue Interim report, on the July 28 flight from Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport to Benazir Bhutto International Airport and still have no satisfactory answers.

    Remembering Air Blue Flight 202: July 28


    In George’s Point of View


    Sometimes all we do is listen. We listen to the families speak of their loved ones, listen to the little ones cry, the child who loves snowflakes because that is what her father called her. The wife and children with no means of support and feeding themselves with empty spoons. Knowing that no matter what we do, we cannot bring them back, nor fill that empty place. Still we do what we can on behalf of the families.

    This will be the first July 28 in history when these 152 people will not be living on this earth. We want to remember these people who lost their lives in such a tragic and unnecessary way. They deserve to be remembered.

    Some remember those who are no longer with us by using symbols. Memorials like the one promised. There are other symbols, like the bird in flight that symbolizes a soul, or a chain with a broken link.

    There is a tradition dating back to ancient times of placing rosemary by the graves of loved ones. “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember;” Hamlet, (V.iv.124)

    I was going to talk about more ways that people remember, but I must pause here. In ancient times they put rosemary by the graves of loved ones. Some people still do. But we cannot lay sprigs of rosemary for remembrance at the feet of our loved ones, because there are families still waiting for a memorial promised before the first anniversary of the crash. Waiting a year to lay their flowers and their grief.

    Instead of a bouquet of flowers, we have a bouquet of broken promises. Shall we count them?

    A broken promise to share the final investigative report.
    A broken promise over the Monument at the crash site (they want it elsewhere); and a broken promise over the 72 unmarked graves.
    A broken promise over Airblue being grounded for negligence, malpractice, manslaughter.
    A broken promise to assist the families.
    Or maybe we can call this a pending promise, as we wait for an independent inquiry board and a pending promise of greater safety in the skies over Pakistan.
    We have our Rosemary for remembrance, but it is bittersweet.

    CDA is constructing a memorial for the Air Blue Flight 202 just a few miles from Damn-e-Koh, Islamabad
    CDA is constructing a memorial for the Air Blue Flight 202 just a few miles from Damn-e-Koh, Islamabad

    Airblue Flight 202 Candlelight Vigil

    Near Fawara Chowk, some family members of the tragic Airblue Flight 202 flight commemorated their losses with candles, and photos of their loved ones.

    Dissatisfied with the way the investigation is being handled, the family members are refusing to suffer in silence. They want transparency, and they want the investigation to continue. The family members have formed the Airblue Crash Victim’s Affectee Group, to give the 152 families the opportunity to join together and speak in one voice.

    Air France, Providing an Example

    Air France


    For the last ten years, the victims families of the Air France 4590 Concorde crash have been provided memorials arranged by Air France.

    Air France continues that tradition by providing two anniversary memorial services for Air France Flight 447 victims, one in Rio de Janeiro for 100 participants, and one in Paris for 400 participants. Air France is providing transportation and facilities for the memorials and reunions.

    The glass monument recalling the victims was placed in Leblon (Rio); it has 228 swallows etched into it, each representing someone who died aboard the flight.

    Air India Express


    There was also a monument placed in Kenjar, India of six scribed granite slabs remembering 158 people killed in the May 22 Air India Express crash, but it was vandalized in October of 2010. One tragedy compounded by a senseless act of malicious mischief.

    Air Blue


    Where is the memorial to the 152 victims of Air Blue Flight 202? Airblue management promised that the names of 19 whose bodies were consigned to a communal grave would be scribed on a monument. Where is this monument?

    Where is the monument to all the 152 victims, Airblue?

    Where will you be holding the anniversary service on July 28?

    As the homemade cardboard tribute says “Sympathy is no substitute for action.”


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    Air Blue Flight 202 -Don’t forget the Families


    Some people woke today and remembered 152 passengers who crashed into a hillside in Pakistan. The plane was flown by Airblue and it was the last ride those 152 people would ever remember. For the last ten months, every morning the families wake and remember someone on that plane who is no longer here. Even though as of July 28, it will have been a year since the crash, to their families, time doesn’t matter so much. Justice does.

    On July 28, Airbus sent out a press release regrettably confirming their year 2000 model Airbus A321 operated by Airblue operating a scheduled service, Flight ED 202, from Karachi to Islamabad crashed, killing all aboard. Airbus promised to provide full technical assistance to Pakistani authorities. Thanks for the concern and sympathy, but ask the families, where is their assistance?

    We have not heard anything about Pilot Pervez Iqbal Chaudhry who was 61 years old, and suffering from diabetes and hypertension. Was he suffering fatigue if he had observed prayers of the holy day preceding the crash? We don’t know. His flight schedule has not been released.

    The black box, was found July 31 of last year, and sent to the Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la Sécurité de l’Aviation Civile, but the BEA (whose involvement is one of “observer” under 1944 Chicago Annex 13) has no page up for the crash. Ask the families, where is their assistance?

    The NTSB (also observer) only has this statement: The investigation is being conducted by the Pakistan Safety & Investigation Board, Civil Aviation Authority. The NTSB appointed an Accredited Representative to assist the investigation under the provisions of ICAO Annex 13 as the Country of Manufacture and Design of the engines. Ask the families, where is their assistance?

    The ball is in Pakistani court.

    The Pakistani government announced compensation of Rs 500,000 ($5,847) to each family. (Pakistan is signatory to Hague Protocol and Montreal Convention of 1999, under which compensation could be as much as Rs12 million per victim.) The pending Carriage by Air Act 2010 offers minimum compensation of Rs500,000 for death and injury of domestic flight passengers. Airblue has replaced the plane and business is booming.

    But not the families of the 152 victims. We still don’t know why it happened. We haven’t heard about families getting compensation. If this were an international flight, there would be an active treaty (Montreal Convention) outlining the guidelines. But in this domestic flight, the families still hanging in the wind, waiting for a report, and waiting for compensation. We know that to get adequate compensation, the families will have to fight it out in court. If you ask the families where their assistance is, they will tell you that there has been none. Should they have to petition the court for the most fundamental victim’s right—just to find out why the airline they trusted with their loved ones lives, the plane they trusted with their loved ones—crashed?

    Link to our initial study, Airblue 202-­?Pre-­?Theory and Testing Hypothesis

    The Peshawar High Court Demands Air Blue Inquiry

    An independent board of inquiry for determining the causes of the crash was petitioned by politician Marvi Memon.

    Interior Minister Rehman Malik gave a two month timeframe for the release of the Air Blue report. It still has not been released due to “political pressure.”

    The families have persistent unanswered questions regarding the Air Blue crash in the Margalla Hills in Islamabad. One hundred fifty two people died in that crash in July 2010. As of Thursday, the PHC expects the written submissions (complete statements) from all respondents on the next court date.

    Counsel Omar Farouk Adam requested that the Air Blue Fleet be grounded until the report is made public. According to Chief Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, relief for the victims families must be “fixed” in the inquiry prior to the court ordering interim relief.


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    Air Blue Report: Where Are You?

    Do we know more than we did before the investigations? No, we do not. Because after almost 9 months, we still haven’t heard the official investigation of the Air Blue Airbus that crashed in Margalla Hills on July 28, 2010. And this is not one of those cases where the blackboxes disappeared. The black boxes on this flight were located and sent to France for processing.


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Richard Vandervord

    What: AirBlue Airbus A321-200 en route from Karachi to Islamabad Pakistan
    Where: Margalla Hills about 10nm north of Islamabad
    When: Jul 28th 2010
    Who: 146 passengers and 6 crew
    Why: While on approach to Islamabad in poor weather conditions during monsoon rain and low visibility, radio contact was lost (at 09:45) and the plane impacted the terrain.

    Helicopters flew into the mountainous area, which is difficult to access. Initial reports were that there were no survivors then helicopters were reported to have flown five survivors to hospitals. Six bodies have been recovered including the pilot but there are no survivors (in spite of the video report.)

    Scheduled 14 CFR Non-U.S., Commercial operation of Airblue
    Accident occurred Wednesday, July 28, 2010 in Islamabad, Pakistan
    Aircraft: AIRBUS A321, registration: AP-BCB
    Injuries: 157 Fatal.
    On July 28, 2010, Airblue flight 202, an Airbus A321 with IAE V2500 engines, registration AP-BCB, impacted terrain in the Margilla Hills during approach to runway 12 at Benazir Bhutto International Airport (OPRN), Islamabad, Pakistan. All 150 passengers and 7 crewmembers onboard were fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed. The flight was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, Pakistan (OPKC) to OPRN.


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    Air Blue Black Box Recovered

    A six member committee will be investigating the crash of the Air Blue Airbus flight ED-202. 152 people on board the Airbus A321 aircraft were killed when it slammed into a hill on July 28. The black box and cockpit voice recorder which was in the tail of the plane was recovered in the wooded Margalla hills after a three day search by twenty rescuers who had been hampered by heavy rain and inaccessibility. Major accidents are investigated jointly by the international aviation community; and the box appears to be in adequate condition, soon to be decoded in either France or Germany.

    The box holds crucial details which will help determine the cause of the crash, and will be examined by international experts.

    Pilot Pervez Iqbal Chaudhry was 61 years old, and suffering from diabetes and hypertension, and possibly suffering fatigue if he had observed prayers of the holy day preceding the crash.


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    Airblue Crash in Pakistan


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact Gary Culpan

    On 28 July 2010 after taking off from Karachi at 0241 UTC (0741 PST)on a domestic flight to Islamabad, Airblue Flight 202 (AP-BJB), an Airbus A321, executed a circling approach for RWY-12 at Islamabad, crashed into the Margalla Hills nine and a half miles north-east of Islamabad apparently due to bad weather. One hundred and forty-six people were aboard, and six crew. One hundred forty-six passengers and all six crew members died. The plane was a total loss. It is the first fatal accident involving an Airbus A321 and Pakistan’s worst air disaster.


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    No Survivors in AirBlue Airbus Crash in Pakistan


    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Richard Vandervord

    What: AirBlue Airbus A321-200 en route from Karachi to Islamabad Pakistan
    Where: Margalla Hills about 10nm north of Islamabad
    When: Jul 28th 2010
    Who: 146 passengers and 6 crew
    Why: While on approach to Islamabad in poor weather conditions during monsoon rain and low visibility, radio contact was lost (at 09:45) and the plane impacted the terrain.

    Helicopters flew into the mountainous area, which is difficult to access. Initial reports were that there were no survivors then helicopters were reported to have flown five survivors to hospitals. Six bodies have been recovered including the pilot but there are no survivors (in spite of the video report.)

    Video

    Airbus Press Release


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    Airbus Press Release: Airblue flight ED 202 accident in Islamabad

    First Release
    28 July 2010

    Airbus regrets to confirm that an Airbus A321 operated by airblue was involved in an accident shortly after 9.45 am local time. The aircraft was operating a scheduled service, Flight ED 202, from Karachi to Islamabad, Pakistan.

    The aircraft involved in the accident, registered under AP-BJB, was MSN (Manufacturer Serial Number) 1218, initially delivered from the production line in 2000. The aircraft is leased to airblue in January 2006. The aircraft had accumulated approximately 34,000 flight hours in some 13,500 flights. It was powered by IAE V2533 engines. At this time no further factual information is available.

    In line with international convention, Airbus will provide full technical assistance to the Authorities of Pakistan, who will be responsible for the investigation into the accident.

    The A321 is a twin-engine single-aisle seating 185 passengers in a standard two-class configuration. The first A321 entered service in January 1994. To date, some 610 A321’s are in service with nearly 70 operators. The entire fleet has accumulated some 10.6 million flight hours in some 5.8 million flights. The A321 is part of the A320 Family which has achieved over 50 million take offs and landings since the first model, the A320, entered commercial service in 1988. Today, more than 4,300 aircraft are in operations to some 310 customers and operators worldwide.

    Airbus will make further factual information available as soon as the details have been confirmed.

    The concerns and sympathy of the Airbus employees go to the families, friends and loved ones affected by the accident of Flight ED 202.

    * * *

    For further information, please contact:
    AIRBUS – MEDIA RELATIONS
    Tel.: (33) 05.61.93.10.00

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