The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday arrested Umar Farooq Bhoja, owner of Bhoja Airlines, as Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced that a judicial commission would investigate Friday’s air crash that killed 127 people on board the plane.
A case for killing 127 people was also registered against Farooq Bhoja with Koral police station, Islamabad.
The FIR lodged into the incident accused the owner of Bhoja Airline of using an outdated aircraft.
Bhoja is currently in the protective custody of FIA for interrogation, while the Interior Ministry also put his name on the Exit Control List (ECL).
However, a private TV channel reported late on Saturday that Bhoja had told interrogators that there were six partners in the airlines. Arshad Jalil, his wife and son owned 80 percent of the shares and Arshad was the managing director, while Bhoja claimed that he owned only five percent of the shares. Two directors of the airlines — Mutahir Hussain and Zeeshan Kareemi – are also shareholders in the business.
Meanwhile, rescue workers have recovered the Cockpit Voice Recorder of the ill-fated plane, however, CAA Director General Nadeem Yousafzai announced that there was no technical fault in the plane, as it had been thoroughly inspected at the Karachi airport before its flight.
Another CAA official said the Boeing 737-200 was 28 years old and had been bought on dry lease from a South African company.
A Bhoja Air official insisted that despite its age, the plane was safe to fly.
“The aircraft was old and second hand but it is not something unusual. The fleet of state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) also runs old aircraft,” Bhoja Air official Masham Zafar told AFP.
“Airlines rarely have brand new planes, and this aircraft was also refurbished. Pakistan Metrological Department Director General Arif Mahmood told Pakistan Today that bad weather warning was provided to CAA twice on Friday. “The first warning was issued at 3pm that cited major aviation hazards, while the second one was issued at around 6pm,” he added. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani visited Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on Saturday and directed Interior Minister Rehman Malik to form a judicial commission to probe into incident. The commission would be headed by former chief justice of the Lahore High Court Zahid Hussain Bukhari and would comprise Justice (r) Naseem Sikandar and Dr Wasim Kosar. PIMS spokesman Wasim Khawaja said that most of the relatives had identified their loved ones and the remaining bodies had been sent to a morgue in Sector I/10.
“We would hand over the bodies after DNA tests,” Khawaja said, adding that the process would take five to seven days.
Relatives: But the developments had no calming effect on the aggrieved families, whose loss only amplified on the receipt of as many as 118 bodies of relatives. It was a breakdown indeed. Dozens of coffins lined a hallway of PIMS on Saturday as weeping relatives of the victims slammed the authorities for the disaster.
Staff at PIMS, faces covered with masks, sprayed air freshener to mask the smell of burnt flesh in the room where the remains were being kept, some of them no more than a few body parts.
A dejected woman identifying herself as Mrs Hassan, 45, said she had come to collect the body of her 45-year old cousin Mohammad Yunus, a scholar who had been running a madrassa in Karachi.
“We could not get the full body. We recognised his hand and hair along with his jacket,” she said.
“It’s sheer incompetence of the government. This is the second major accident here in less than two years but the president and the prime minister remain unmoved. If the weather was bad why did they not warn the pilot. Why did they allow the plane to land?” she charged. Abdul Raoof, 55, said he had come for the body of his cousin Ghulam Farooq, 45, who worked for the State Life Insurance Corporation in Islamabad.
“We have been roaming here since early morning. We go inside the mortuary and returned in depression after seeing body parts and severed limbs lying there.”
“We wait, get impatient and then go inside again only to return disappointed. We are traumatised. We want to get the body and leave this place as early as possible.” Raoof blamed the airport control tower for negligence.
“If the weather was bad the plane should have been turned away,” he said. “It is also a mistake of the airline. They sacrificed 127 lives just to save some fuel.”
A majority of affected family members, flown from Karachi on a special Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight, were inconsolable, too overwhelmed with grief to speak.
One young man wept bitterly for the cousin and aunt he lost in the crash, who were returning from pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
“I don’t want to talk, please leave us alone,” he told journalists.
Hospital staff sprinkled rose petals on some of the coffins as a gesture of compassion, while police and soldiers consoled relatives.
“My brothers are gone! My brothers are gone!” wailed Mohammad Shahzad, slumping to the ground by the hospital entrance. One brother had been identified, he said, the other remained missing. Both had been on a daylong business trip linked to the transport company run by the three siblings.
“We don’t know what to tell the kids, we don’t know what to tell my mother,” Shahzad said. “They keep calling. I told them there was an accident and we don’t know anything yet.” Ayesha Ishaque pressed her face against a light brown wooden coffin labelled “Body 140”. Her brother, Mohammad Saud Ishaque, had been returning home from studies in Karachi. “Why has God done this to my brother,” she wailed. A senior PIA engineer told AFP the age of the aircraft mattered less than its flying hours, and said he thought an air pocket — a patch of low air pressure — could be to blame.
“Since it was approaching the airport to land it was obviously flying low — between 3,000 and 4,000 feet above the ground,” he said.
“Visibility was also low because it was raining and there was thunder and lightening. The pilot lost control and apparently failed to lift it out of the air pocket.”
Arrested for what? Just shows you have the system works; just do anything to look like you are doing something
point…
why would you arrest him. Did you arrest chairman of PIA when its plane crashed. this shows breakdown of system. Shame on people running our institutions.
What a stupid move
Political victimization starts now….
@ dar: arrested because he is a killer of 127 people…as he allowed an 30 years old aircraft to fly..although he knew it is not in a condition to fly… and its engine is unable to bear the heavy wind pressure….
what about those who allowed bhoja air lines to fly such a air craft? i think they should be arrested first….
@Bakhtawar: Yes you r absolutely right, first those who renewed licence of this Bhoja Airline after 10 years be arrested..
It's the economics of the operation …
I bought a 7 year old used Toyota. If I could afford, I would have bought a new Mercedes…
all planes held by Pakistani airlines including PIA seem of similar nature which may cause similar disaster tomorrow. For God sake ban all Pakistani airlines with immediate effect. PIA be sold to some Middle East financiers, may be as joint venture with Govt of Pakistan, who will put brand new airplanes fleet and will run on commercial lines.
Bhoja a eu une histoire mouvementée, après avoir été contraint de suspendre les opérations de plus de trois fois depuis qu'il a été établi en tant que compagnie aérienne nationale en 1993. Après plus d'une décennie de mise à la terre, son dernier relancer le mois dernier, lorsque la compagnie a annoncé qu'il allait redémarrer les vols intérieurs, après quatre leasing utilisé Boeing 737-200.
The picture above makes me extremely sad. 🙁
Instead of arresting the owner, First bring CAA and other officials in investigation
PM -> (direct) Malik -> Judicial Commission
Done…
You guys can go home now …
The survivors of 2010 Air Blue crash victims have yet to receive insurance money from the owners of Air Blue. Could someone in authority make them pay that money, already received by Air Blue from the insurance company.
Why is the head of CAA not suspended and arrested for allowing an outdated, poor quality aircraft to fly in Pakistan? Airline has the prime responsibility, but certification of air worthiness is the responsibility of CAA.
… if a proper investigation is done; something fishy will come out with either the Crime Minister or the Corruptesident and their cronies involved in it …
… let us first change the airport's name back to Islamabad International .. and start expunging the bhutto-baaqiyat from the helm …
Pakistan is doomed
Pakistan is not doomed … it's detractors are …
Let us change our leadership first because this is one of the consequences of Bad leadership. But my heart goes to the victims of the plane crash
The ownership of the plane is irrelevant.! Let us estbalish following facts before we indulge in blame game.
i)Was the plane airworthy?
2)Did a tecnical fault occur in the flight?
3) Did the control tower give the right advice and did the pilot follow or ignore the advice?
4) Did the pervailing conditions i.e weather cotribute to the crash.
Some of these questions can be answered pretty quickly be competent authorities.
Comments are closed.