PIA announces big decision over its ATR fleet
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A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) official has informed the Sindh High Court (SHC) that all six ATR aircraft of the national flag carrier would be grounded by August 3, 2021.
The official gave this assurance to a two-member bench of the SHC, comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Amjad Ali Sahito, when they inquired about the measures taken to prevent plane crashes. ------------------------------
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The bench was hearing a case related to the investigations into the ATR crash in December 2016 that took 47 lives, including Junaid Jamshed. The bench also demanded the inspection report of the aircraft from air vigilance authorities.
The counsel replied that the petitioner had submitted some documents at the last hearing, and the PIA had also submitted its reply on those documents.
Reply submitted by PIA comprises documents that have already been submitted [to the court], and the photocopies of the same have been submitted again.
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During the hearing, Justice Mazhar asked as to what steps have the national carrier taken so far to avoid such crashes. The official said that the airline is going to ground all its ATRs by August 3.
The PIA representative apprised the court that currently, 20 of the PIA’s planes are operational, and all of them are regularly inspected by the Civil Aviation Authority.
