Pakistan's Major Air Tragedy

-COL DR. ABDUL RUFF

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It is indeed very sorrowful that Pakistan has been experiencing cruelly bad time for quite some time now.  As if the NATO terror attacks, including drone terrorism, taking the lives of thousands of Muslims during their continuing occupation, were not enough, the recent avalanche crushing many Pakistanis in Siachen glacier has caused severe problems of Pakistan and its security.  

Now a local airline Bhoja Air flight from Karachi crashed as it came down in fields near the village Hussain Abad at around 6:40 pm on Friday the 21 April on the outskirts of the capital, killing all 127 people on board, in the country's second major fatal air crash in less than two years. The Boeing 737, operated by Bhoja Air, was flying to Islamabad the capital from Pakistan's biggest city and business hub Karachi. It crashed into wheat fields more than 5 miles from the airport. There were 11 children among the dead.

The crash came less than two years after the worst ever air disaster on Pakistani soil. In July 2010 an Airbus A321 operated by the private airline Airblue from Karachi crashed into the hills overlooking Islamabad while coming in to land in heavy rain and poor visibility, killing all 152 people on board amid heavy rain and poor visibility. The deadliest civilian plane crash involving a Pakistani jet came in 1992 when a PIA Airbus A300 crashed into a cloud-covered hillside on its approach to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, killing 167 people.

The plane had left Karachi with CAA approval and was given clearance to land at Islamabad. The pilot lost control and hit the ground. It tossed up due to the impact and exploded and came down in a fireball. An airport source said the plane had been due to land at Islamabad airport at 6:50 pm (1350 GMT) but lost contact with the control tower at 6:40 pm and crashed shortly afterwards before reaching the runway.

Several farmers threshing wheat in the field near the crash said they saw the craft burst into flames when it hit the ground. “The flames leapt up like they were touching the sky.” Part of the plane’s wing fell on a house in the village. A large section of wing with the airline logo and an engine could be seen among the debris.

There were no survivors.

There was no indication from the government that it could have been the result of foul play. First, there were conflicting reports about how many people were on board the plane. Torn fragments of the fuselage, including a large section bearing the airline’s logo, could be seen in television footage.

Military and aviation officials said bad weather was probably behind the crash, as there was a hail and thunderstorm over the city at the time. Parts of the aircraft smashed into electricity poles, blanketing the area in darkness, or into houses.

Bhoja had been grounded in 2000 by the Civil Aviation Authorities amid financial difficulties. The airline insists the crash was caused by bad weather as the plane tried to land at Islamabad's international airport during a thunderstorm and not a technical problem as was widely speculated.  Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials said the second-hand Boeing 737-200 was nearly 30 years old, but an airline spokeswoman said the plane's age had no bearing on the tragedy. The aircraft, according to an official, was old and second hand but it is not something unusual. "There was no technical issue and bad weather is to be blamed."

There were emotional scenes at Islamabad airport as distraught relatives wept bitterly for the victims of the crash. A man who had been waiting at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport for the flight yelled "my two daughters are dead" as tears streamed down his face. In a state of shock, he then slumped on the floor and sat silently as other relatives of passengers crowded around lists of those on board.

It's sheer incompetence of the government. Many have blamed the airport control tower for negligence over the crash. This is the second major accident here in less than two years but the president and the prime minister remain unmoved.

If the weather was bad why they did not warn the pilot, why did they allow the plane to land? It is also a mistake of the airline. They sacrificed 127 lives just to save some fuel.

Distraught relatives wept as they collected the shattered remains of loved ones from Islamabad's main hospital, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), and their tears turned to anger at what they saw as official fecklessness. At this capital's main hospital, rescue workers brought in remains of the passengers placed under white sheets soaked in blood.

It is really horrific describing scenes of devastation and chaos at the site where a Bhoja Air plane crashed with up to 127 people on board just outside Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. The plane came down over the small village of Hussain Abad, but the crash site spread over a few kilometres. There are a few hundred houses here. Some of the plane's wreckage damaged about three houses. We still don't know if there were any casualties on the ground. Body parts are strewn all over the place: in nearby fields, near houses, and also in the narrow streets. One can see bits of clothing and belongings scattered; seats from the plane are also visible.

Body parts, wallets and eyeglasses lay among wreckage strewn in a small settlement just outside Islamabad. "It was as if the entire sky had burst into flames," said a resident of the area. An eyewitness said the plane was on fire just seconds before the crash. Women and children were on the rooftops - they seemed stunned and terrified because some bodies had landed inside a few homes. The ground is very muddy after a heavy rainfall. Rescuers were trying to collect the body parts and put them into bags which will then be taken to hospitals. This will help them identify the victims. The army is everywhere, and the village has been cordoned off.

Rescue teams working through the night recovered many bodies as well as the jet's flight recorder. Rescue crews combed through the charred wreckage of the plane as passengers’ belongings — clothes, shoes, jewellery — ripped from their luggage, lay strewn on the ground. And none really bothered about these valuables and owners are not there to get them back. Fire erupted after the crash. The wreckage is on fire, the plane is completely destroyed. Wreckage, including smashed seats, clothes and jewelry belonging to passengers, was spread out over a one-kilometer (half-mile) wide area.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters a judicial commission would investigate the crash while information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the findings of an initial investigation could be released as early as possible. Pakistan barred the head of an airline whose jet crashed near Islamabad from leaving the country Saturday as it began a probe into the disaster that sparked anger among distraught relatives. Interior minister Rehman Malik said a committee had been set up to investigate the crash and the head of the airline Farooq Bhoja had been put on an "exit control list", meaning he is banned from leaving Pakistan. Boeing offered "profound condolences" to the victims' families and said it would provide technical assistance to the investigation into the Bhoja crash.

Although Pakistan's air industry has been booming, critics say standards have not always kept pace with the increase in services.

Deep condolence and sincere sympathy to the victims of the Pakistani plane crash, let us praise the mighty Allah to bless the victims with his mercy and inspire their families patience and solace.

One important morale of the tragedy revealed through this major tragedy that cost lives and wealth is that Muslims must try to help the less fortunate ones. That is also central the message of Islam and the Holy Quran as well as of Prophet Muhammad (SAS).

Part-II

Fall of Pakistan would signal bad time for Islam. And all anti-Islamic  nations are at it. The Muslim state of Pakistan occupies an area which was home to some of the earliest human settlements and where two of the world's major religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, were practiced.

The modern Islamic state was born out of the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947 and has faced both domestic political upheavals and regional confrontations. Created to meet the demands of Indian Muslims for their own homeland, Pakistan was originally in two parts. The east wing - present-day Bangladesh - is on the Bay of Bengal bordering India and Burma. The west wing - present-day Pakistan - stretches from the Himalayas down to the Arabian Sea. The break-up of the two wings came in 1971 when the mainly Bengali-speaking east wing seceded with help from India which wanted to keep the two sides in perpetual fight with one another.

Civilian politics in Pakistan in the last few decades has been tarnished by corruption, inefficiency and confrontations between various institutions. Alternating periods of civilian and military rule have not helped to establish stability. Pakistan came under military rule again in October 1999 after the ousting of a civilian government that had lost a great deal of public support. The coup leader, General Pervez Musharraf, pledged to revive the country's fortunes, but faced economic challenges as well as an increasing polarization between “Islamist militancy” and the modernizing “secular elite wing” of Pakistani politics. Under growing pressure to reintroduce democratic rule, Musharraf relinquished his army post in November 2007, but at parliamentary elections in February 2008, his supporters were defeated by the opposition Pakistan People's Party and former PM Nawaz Sharif's Muslim League. The two parties formed a coalition government and an impeachment process was launched against Musharraf, who resigned in August 2008.

USA has hooked Pakistan to work for promoting US interests and Washington always managed to  place pupet regime in Islamabad. Gen. Musharraf was an effective tool in the S hand in  attacking Afghanistan from Pakistani soil  but it has caused  immeasurable damages to Islamic world and Islam. . Pakistan's place on the world stage shifted after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US. NATO used Pakistan it is drive to kill as many Muslims as possible and steal their wealth, including nukes. Islamabad was propelled into the frontline in the fight against Muslims and Islam in the name of Sept-11 hoax terrorism, becoming a key ally of Washington to maintain control over the restive tribal regions along the Afghan border. Since 2009, the government has been waging an on-and-off military campaign to flush the militants out of the tribal areas to get more money an arms from USA. . 

Tensions with India over Kashmir have resurfaced regularly ever since the partition of the sub-continent and the two nuclear-armed powers has on numerous occasions been on the brink of renewed conflict.

India has accused Pakistan of failing to do “enough” and cooperate “adequately” over the investigation into the November 2008 extremist attacks in Mumbai, generating high smoke scenario similar to the Sept-11 hoax scene, and suspended talks on improving relations for over two-and-a-half years.

Pakistan came under military rule again in October 1999 after the ousting of a civilian government that had lost a great deal of public support. Civilian politics in Pakistan in the last few decades has been tarnished by corruption, inefficiency and confrontations between various institutions. Alternating periods of civilian and military rule have not helped to establish stability.