CAA releases Airblue crash reports

After a long delay of about eight months, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has released the investigation report of the crash of an Airblue plane in the Margalla hills on July 28, 2010. The Airblue Flight 202, which had taken off from Karachi 10 minutes to eight in the morning, crashed into Islamabad’s Margalla hills, killing all 152 people on board. The data recorded in the black box revealed the conversation of the plane’s Captain with the First Officer and with the control tower. According to the CAA’s report, the Captain, Pervez Iqbal Chaudhry, ignored the air traffic controller’s suggestions several times and told the First Officer (FO) in the cockpit: “let him say whatever he wants to say.” The report further stated that the plane’s captain was lecturing the FO during the flight and that his tone was condescending and inappropriate. The FO remained silent and did not challenge the captain. The report concluded that: “Air blue crash has been finalised as a case of Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT), in which aircrew failed to display superior judgment and professional skills in a self-created unsafe environment. In their pursuit to land in inclement weather, they committed serious violations of procedures and breaches of flying discipline, which put the aircraft in an unsafe condition over dangerous terrain at low altitude.”

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