Pakistan

I want to discuss an open secret. Every citizen of every country knows this secret; every family member knows, from the poorest to the richest and everyone between—That nothing in this world is going to bring back a loved one who has died. To the families who lose loved ones in a crash like Bhoja Air Flight 213, that loved one is priceless. To the community, that citizen is irreplaceable. I mean this literally and exactly—that person is gone and can never be replaced. Simple fact. Each person who lives and breathes is a walking compilation of time and coincidence that came together to make one unique person. Priceless. We know this because we are human beings. Our minds understand this because it is logical. Our hearts understand this without words. It doesn’t require an explanation, but I am going on and on about it because, apparently this is something that government does not know.

The nightmare has just begun for the families of Bhoja Air Flight 213. I have to make the explanation, because the families of those who died in the Air Blue crash have been given a dollar figure. A judge who misread an international treaty (that doesn’t even apply to the case) set a cap of $57,000. Never mind that the government of Pakistan says it is not a cap. Never mind that the rest of the world looks at that number in disbelief. It hangs there like a guillotine, like a road block, like a dead end to the futures of all those families who have already lost more than can be repaid.

It has been pointed out to me that where the Air Blue Crash Report was concerned, “it was the first time that an air crash report findings were published. Such accidents in the past were shrouded in secrecy.” So perhaps I should soften my judgment because transparency in government is not an easy thing. Pakistan should be commended for making its first baby steps toward transparency. Transparency promotes accountability. So congratulations on beginning. Perhaps the first baby steps toward open government, transparency and accountability can be painful, but with each step, more is learned. Perhaps the biggest lesson that can be learned is that failure is the opportunity for growth.

The Air Blue Flight 202 investigation was mishandled. More on that in a moment. I hope that the Pakistani investigating body that will be given the task of conducting this investigation on Bhoja Air Flight 213 will do a better job than they did in the Air Blue crash. It has been nearly two years (July 28) since Air Blue went down and investigators can’t manage to get their act together enough to write a final report that that’s credible as to what occurred in that crash.

Don’t let it happen with Bhoja Air Flight 213. Don’t draw your conclusions so quickly. Conclusions must be based on evidence. Today I picked up an article in the news media quoting an official who said the weather caused the Bhoja crash. Okay so maybe the weather did cause it?but maybe not. It wasn’t a new plane. It was the first time that route was flown, and a relatively new airline. Was their training up to par? I expect tabloid journalism from tabloids, but how can an official conclude so quickly? That’s being stupid, but this is not stupid country. Look at their economics, and you can see they are a vital country with a growing economy.

But they should be ashamed of how they conduct law that has anything to do with the value of life. A credible investigation of the carrier and the culpable parties will uncover truth. A good investigation always does. We are already asking ourselves if the insurance companies and the lawyers, and the lawgivers believe that the people aboard Bhoja Air Flight 213 will also have a bargain basement value. Is the value of human life, of a human being, of the human soul set at $57,000? It is abhorrent, disgusting, soulless to appraise a life at $57,000. It doesn’t matter if the person was 100 years old—that life has more value than $57,000 to the family. When there is a domestic flight outside of an international treaty, why isn’t there a compensation plan that is reasonable and accepted by the aviation community?

$57,000 is the figure the operator has authorized their attorneys to settle Air Blue cases for.

This is all the more tragic because the accidents would/could/should all be preventable.

I hope that the leasing companies and the banking companies get their act together and start being more careful about who they lease their airplanes to. In my opinion, what they do is they find out if the company is credit worthy. If the operator is credit worthy, then they give them the plane.

What if banks and lenders raised the bar? That’s a big IF. You see, the lender is in position of strength. What would happen to aviation if the lender were to look beyond whether an airline company and operator is creditworthy? As it stands now, they could care less about whether or not the operator trains their pilots correctly, whether they can fly a Boeing or Airbus, whether the pilots had more than two hours of sleep in the last twenty-four hours, whether the crew knows how to cooperate with each other, whether or not the passengers are safe setting foot on that plane. It doesn’t make any difference to the banks and lenders, as long as somebody is making their monthly payments, and as long as there is insurance on the aircraft.

But the leasing companies and the banks have so much control. What would happen to aviation safety in developing countries if the lender were to look beyond whether an airline company and operator is creditworthy? They could do so much to clean up the state of aviation safety in countries that they are having so many crashes—they could save lives and change the world—if the lender drew a line in the sand, a line of control that set a higher standard than financial responsibility. What if the lender said you’re not getting the money for this plane unless you demonstrate to me that your pilots have had proper training, that your planes will have proper maintenance, that appropriate guidelines will be followed? If the lender is monitoring that airline and finds for example, that pilots aren’t being trained or that the planes are not being properly maintained, shouldn’t the lender repossess the plane—just as a lender can repossess a car if the insurance lapses? The leasing company (or the company from whom the airline is buying the plane) should have in their lease agreement or sale contract an ongoing control for the operator to demonstrate proper training for pilots, proper maintenance (etc.) and if the operator fails to uphold standards, the legal owner (bank/lender) can act to repossess their plane.

Should I mention that the fact that if the banks do not do so, it is negligent? Not only in the legal sense?I’m not a lawyer. It is negligent in the sense that supervision of a banker’s investment is the banker’s/investor’s responsibility. Shouldn’t the lender be held accountable? Should they be able to pawn off barely airworthy planes to airlines that can barely manage them, knowing the planes will be flown till their wings fall off, and the worst that will happen will be a bargain basement slap on the hand for the 152 fatalities of Air Blue or the 127-130 fatalities of Bhoja Air? Is this a secret, second tier cottage industry we’ve bumped into? If so, someone should shine a hard light at the business practices. But there is in fact a legal doctrine of negligent entrustment, in which one of two things must be proved: that the leasing company has possession of the plane, or control. And we believe that, because the plane can be repossessed for breaches of contract (failure of payment, failure to maintain insurance), that demonstrates that the lender has control. This makes them a responsible party, and legally liable. In support of this control, the lender/bank needs to better monitor the ongoing conditions concerning the plane. Because the bank has control—the power to repossess an airplane for financial default—it is the responsibility of the lender to maintain monitoring. And f the lenders find out that the pilots aren’t being trained correctly, that operations are substandard, that unsafe methods are practiced? They have the control to demand immediate rectification or the plane will be repossessed. They have the responsibility of keeping tabs of public information, and to monitor internal performance from the airlines. It is their responsibility to monitor these weapons of destruction that they’re putting out into the sky under the control of anybody with a fat wallet.

We don’t know what happened to the Bhoja Air plane. We don’t know. All I am saying is we hope they do a better job in investigating this thing . Don’t drag it out for two years and come out with a chicken shit investigation that nobody believes, that isn’t even credible.

But what can we expect? They don’t check anything. They don’t collect the wreckage. They don’t do anything that other countries do. There is a protocol to be followed after a crash and this one is already busted. Was it immediately cordoned off? I think not. Look on you-tube and you can see half a dozen videos of everybody in town tromping through the evidence.

It’s like a math test, where you have to show every step of all your work. Follow the formula that works. Follow the protocol for investigation.

Pakistan should wake up and look around. It is 2012. There aren’t any excuses. They are a real country. They should follow the guidelines of what is proper, not only for the sake of the company that is going to suffer a loss, but also for the sake of all those souls that were lost.

So Pakistan, here’s the secret. Life cannot be replaced. It has an intrinsic value beyond currency. Value it.