Pakistan Inspects Planes Following Deadly Crash

Posted April 23rd, 2012 at 10:55 am (UTC-5)
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Aviation authorities in Pakistan have begun inspecting private passenger planes following last week's deadly crash outside Islamabad.

The Bhoja Air Boeing 737 was en route from the southern port city of Karachi to the the capital when it went down Friday during a thunderstorm. All 127 people on board were killed. The cause of the crash is being investigated. It was the second such incident in less than two years.

Pakistani Defense Minister Ahmad Mukhtar told state television on Monday that the Civil Aviation Authority ordered all passenger planes to be inspected.

“The checkup is aimed at removing any fault left out in the planes. It is clear that the private airline companies' planes will be checked along the standards of the state-run airline (PIA). The CAA is doing its job and as soon as the planes go through the checking process they will be cleared for flights.”

On Sunday, a Shaheen Air passenger jet with more than 170 people on board averted disaster when one of its tires burst while trying to land at the airport in Karachi.

In July of 2010, Pakistan suffered its deadliest airline crash in history, when a passenger plane operated by Airblue crashed in the mountains near Islamabad, killing all 152 people on board.

Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Pervez George said Monday that all passenger planes belonging to Pakistan's three private carriers will be thoroughly inspected.

“The basic purpose is to restore the confidence of travelers. We want to see every aircraft safe and there will be no compromise on this issue.”

Officials say the Bhoja Air jet that went down on Friday had been in service for three decades. The flight was the airline's first from Karachi to Islamabad.

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