National flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has issued show-cause notices to a pilot and two others officials for loading seven extra passengers on a Karachi-Madina flight on January 20, in a violation of air safety regulations.
Spokesperson for PIA Danyal Gilani said in a statement that “Disciplinary action has been taken against all concerned officials.”
Crew on PIA flight PK-743 Capt Anwer Adil, senior purser (air hostess) Hina Turab, and Karachi terminal manager Akbar Ali Shah were issued notices for allegedly letting extra passengers travel on jump seats and the cockpit. This decision was taken after a statement made by Captain Anwer Adil was leaked to local media that was covered widely by international media.
It is important to note that the captain failed to bring the plane back to Karachi and mention the extra passengers after arriving in Madina. The inquiry report noted that “as per SOPs in cases like these, the report said, the aircraft should be parked again to offload extra passengers “which was not done in this case and such type of violation/irregularity cannot be ignored in which safety of the passenger is on stake.”
The captain will remain grounded till further notice and will appear before committee that will be investigating the incident. In a statement issued on Sunday PIA denied that any extra passengers went on the flight standing for the three-hour journey.
The airline’s spokesman said media reports that some passengers travelled standing were “exaggerated and baseless. It is not possible for anyone to travel like that in an aircraft, regardless of the duration of the flight.”
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