The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Thursday informed the Senate Special Committee on Pakistan International Airlines that 17 persons have so far been arrested in a case of heroin recovery from PIA aircraft at Heathrow Airport. During a briefing at the Parliament House, the ANF officials updated the committee about drug smuggling racket that was transporting heroin to the UK through the national flag carrier. Out of 17 arrested persons, 13 are employees of the national flag carrier, the ANF officials disclosed.
The committee members were astonished despite recovery of 11 kg of heroin from PIA aircraft, no major action against the involved persons has been taken in spite of passage of six months. If any senior official is involved, action should also be taken against him, he said. The issue of sacking a PIA captain for compromising safety of passengers on board on an international flight by inviting a Chinese girl into his cabin was also discussed. Some of the committee members sought his reinstatement.
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman who had initially described the PIA captain as a 'sexual predator' said, "If the Chinese girl has not filed a case of sexual harassment, the pilot should be allowed to resume flying." Earlier in June, a video of the cabin crew accompanying a Chinese girl into the cockpit went viral and was reported widely in the mainstream media.
The case was taken up by the standing committees of the National Assembly and the Senate as well as by the Special Committee of the Senate on the Performance of PIA. The committee had met again for a briefing about the progress made on action taken by the PIA management against the pilot.
An inquiry was initiated against the pilot in question flying PK853 from Tokyo to Beijing in June 2017. The operating Captain Shahzad Aziz was held responsible for violating rules by inviting a passenger in the cockpit during landing. A show cause notice was issued to Captain Shahzad Aziz who then challenged the decision of the PIA management in the court.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) PIA, Musharraf Rasool Cyan told the committee in his briefing that the stay order from the Sindh High Court barred the PIA management from taking any coercive action against the pilot. The PIA has completed inquiry under disciplinary rules and had reached a level where punishment cannot be handed down.
"However, in compliance with the court order, further proceedings in the matter are being kept on hold till further directives from the Sindh High Court," Musharraf Rasool Cyan told the committee. Nonetheless, most of the members agreed to their colleague Sherry Rehman that the pilot should be allowed to resume duties if the Chinese girl had not filed a case.
But the Aviation Advisor PIA, Sardar Mehtab Khan Abbasi said that the management had found the pilot guilty of inviting a passenger into the cockpit during landing which is against the rules. "The PIA initiated proceedings against the pilot after hue and cry in media and by the parliamentarians," said Abbasi.
Secretary Aviation, Sqd Ldr Muhammad Ifran Elahi (retd) said that under rules, passengers are not allowed in the cockpit during taking off and landing. "The captain could only allow a passenger in the cockpit during flight and that too if there was a request," said Irfan Elahi. Following requests from members, Chairman of the Committee Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah left it to the PIA management to decide the case.
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