By Malik Tariq Ali
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ()PTI government headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed its desire to protect and boost the aviation industry and improve tourism but this can only be achieved if an environment exists where aviation safety is not compromised and maximum efforts are made to provide comfort to passengers. Given the backlog of compromises by successive governments and their choice of executives to head the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) this is indeed an uphill task.
Civil and military airports are located far away from populated areas because of potential fight safety hazards. It is not just the need to prevent intrusion for subversive activities into active airport restricted area but also issues of vital importance which can jeopardise flight safety that can lead to fatal accidents during critical ‘take-off’ and ‘approach to land phases’ of flight. After advent of large capacity commercial aircraft capable of carrying 300-500 passengers with capability to fly non-stop for almost 13 hours or more, these jets carry hundreds of thousands of tons aviation fuel which can cause fatalities for not just passengers on board but civilians living within critical flight path in case of a crash during critical takeoff or approach period. It is precisely for flight safety that ICAO recommends restrictions for sterile zone to be enforced by airport and civil aviation regulatory agencies like CAA. Unfortunately, these regulatory restrictions have been relaxed at all our commercial civil airports for benefit of powerful real estate developers whose greed for profits and conflict of interest of those within regulatory agencies has blinded them to compromise the very purpose of their existence.
Airlines and revenue passengers pay taxes so that regulators and airport management ensure that passengers’ safety is not compromised and they hire professionals to perform important tasks which they are recruited to perform. The recent crash of Beechcraft King Air 350 Turbo Prop aircraft after takeoff which caused fatalities of five uniformed officers and soldiers and 13 civilians on ground when it crashed is a case study and so are numerous incidences of bird ingestion by commercial airline engines.
One of basic requirement for effective regulatory control is that individuals employed by regulator have no commercial conflicts of interest while performing duties that are expected from them as per ICAO regulations and recommendations. Almost all our existing civil and military airports were located in cantonment areas far away from civilian urban population until 1980. The British Raj created these cantonments around outer periphery of populated civilian areas in aftermath of 1857 revolt to quell any uprising by occupied local population in all colonies under their occupation. After independence in 1947 most of these cantonments such as in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, etc. had a built infrastructure with barracks, depots, etc. and coincidently located near our border area. They were feasible to be retained for security purposes to house soldiers, infantry etc. in case of major security threat by enemy. No cantonments existed then or today anywhere in UK in close proximity to major towns or cities. Pentagon which is headquarters of US military has a sterile zone with absolutely no built-in structure other than check-posts within 20-mile extended sterile zone.
Flight safety regulations exist on height of buildings along flight path and urbanisation in proximity of airport, especially on construction of housing societies, restaurants, butcheries, wedding halls, etc. The newly-built Islamabad Airport has been built after delays with cost escalating to over Rs100 billion and the site of this airport was located far away from civilian populated. Controversies about choice of this site exist because there are no water reservoirs in the area and underground water depth. It was sterile land with almost negligible agriculture produce. Yet this site was chosen by former premier Shaukat Aziz for construction of new airport on request of Maj(r) Tahir Sadik’s whose eldest daughter resigned from NA-59 in 2004 where she was elected in 2002 elections, so that he could be elected as an MNA to meet constitutional requirement. The price of this barren land escalated thereafter and even before the Islamabad Airport was completed housing societies have emerged and the No Objection Certificate (NOC) given by district administration and CAA.
There are restrictions on height of structures built within 15km periphery of runway to provide minimum vertical separation in case of engine failure after takeoff. This is an essential safety requirement and commercial airlines are forced to offload revenue payload especially in peak summer temperatures to meet critical engine failure second segment safety margins along flight path. For example, airlines operating from Allama Iqbal International Airport are forced to offload revenue cargo worth millions with losses to perishable export fruit and vegetable items worth billions every year during peak summer temperatures. The food waste from marriage halls, restaurants, clubs, butcheries and housing societies located along flight path and in sterile zone has created an alarming bird hazard forcing ICAO to warn airlines of potential bird hazard on almost all our airfields including Karachi, Multan, Lahore, Peshawar etc. Cash starved PIA has incurred losses of millions of dollars due to FOD ingestion by engines. Flocks of eagles and vultures are often seen invading runway forcing flights to divert. In July, almost seven commercial flights had to divert from Lahore because of bird activity.
When civil airport was moved from Chaklala Airport congested with urban development in its sterile zone there was a sigh of relief and it was hoped that that no such compromises would be allowed at its new location. Unfortunately, it seems that power and commercial profits of real estate developers are more important than safety of passengers and commercial airlines whose taxes pay for salaries of executives of CAA and the maintenance and upkeep of essential equipment and comfort of passengers. The over Rs100 billion cost of Islamabad Airport can only be offset if foreign and local airlines find it beneficial and safe to operate from, and national airline PIA owned by federal government be given enough land to build a Wide Body Hangar to cut annual losses of over $15 million in positioning aircraft for major checks instead of small Hangar capable for A 320 or ATR aircraft.
