CAA forms committee to probe plane fire incident at Karachi airport

KARACHI: The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority on Monday took notice of the grounded plane fire incident at Jinnah International Airport and formed a committee to probe cause of the fire, ARY News reported.

A huge fire mysteriously broke out in a grounded plane at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on Sunday night. The airport authorities, after being informed, called the fire tenders which extinguished the blaze.

A six-member committee headed by Additional Director Toufiq Sheikh has been asked to probe the incident, whether the fire was mysteriously or deliberately broke out in a grounded plane at Karachi airport. The committee has been asked to submit an inquiry report to Director General CAA.

It may be noted that

Airport Security Force (ASF) had several times wrote to CAA about the removal of grounded planes at Karachi airport which are creating difficulties for ASF in security measures and also becoming a risk for other planes due to continuous bird strikes.

Read More: Fire erupts in grounded plane at Karachi airport

It has been learned that Shaheen Airways had suspended its operations from October 2018, and the private airliner was a defaulter of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), CAA and Pakistan Customs.

According to ARY News correspondent, Shaheen Airways has to pay Rs1.4 billion to FBR and CAA respectively. Shaheen Airways has total 25 planes in its fleet out of which 12 are grounded at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.