C-130s, ATR planes to replace Fokkers

Islamabad, July 13 (UNI) Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will replace Fokkers with C-130 and ATR planes and operate them on the routes where Fokkers were being operated, a media report said today.

A Lahore-bound PIA Fokker had crashed on the outskirts of Multan two minutes after take-off last Monday, killing 41 passengers and four crewmembers on board. Thereafter, the cabinet of ministers had decided to ground the ageing Fokker aircraft.

''PIA has reviewed its flying strategy after the decision of Cabinet wherein it has recommended to ground the Fokker planes,'' The Nation quoted PIA spokesman Captain Hassan Jaffery as saying.

According to the new strategy, PIA has requested PAF to give it C-130 planes to operate them on the Fokker routes. However, the number of planes to be borrowed from PAF is yet to be decided.

The national flag carrier has also sent a request to ATR planes manufacturing company of France to expedite the delivery. PIA had signed a contract with the ATR manufacturing company to purchase seven planes out of which one has been delivered to the PIA and rest would be delivered by May 2007, he maintained.

To overcome the crisis created by grounding the Fokkers, he said PIA would not only get C-130 but would also increase the routes of the existing ATR plane and its flying hours to maximum limit.

He said PIA was also constantly announcing on the airports across the country about the suspension of Fokkers flights to save the passengers from inconvenience.

The investigators of flight PK 688 crash case suspected that the plane developed some problems in one of its engines during the take-off as some parts of engines were found around the strip.

The point of load of the plane is being considered by the investigators as extra load can put additional burden on the engines, resulting into their destruction.

''The plane might have taken a shallow take-off from the strip possibly due to a problem with one of its engines as a result of which it could not achieve the desirable height and met with an accident,'' the investigators suspected.

Meanwhile, separate expert teams , the insurance company and Fokker engine manufacturing company Rolls Royce also visited the spot, reviewed the debris and continued to make their reports.

The wreckage would be removed today.

''We have placed an order for two engine boxes and as soon as we get these boxes, we will remove these engines from the spot,'' a senior official at Multan Airport said. He said the investigation of air crash was a very technical work and it would take all the investigative teams some time to reach a conclusion. He said the Black Box of the plane had been sent to Karachi and might be sent abroad for review.

UNI XC PR PM1536