Pakistan blocked the head of an airline whose jet crashed near the capital from leaving the country and ordered him into protective custody today as it began an investigation into its second major air disaster in less then two years.
All 127 people on board Boeing 737-200 of Bhoja Air, that crashed near Islamabad, have been confirmed dead. AFP Photo/Aamir Qureshi
The Bhoja Air passenger jet crashed yesterday as it tried to land in a thunderstorm at Islamabad’s main airport, killing all 127 people on board and reviving concerns about aviation safety in a country saddled by massive economic problems, an embattled government, and Islamist insurgency.
The small domestic airline, which only resumed operations last month after suspending them in 2001 due to financial difficulties, said after the crash that the weather was the cause of the accident.
Speaking at the scene of the disaster, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that Farooq Bhoja, head of Bhoja Air, had been put on the “exit control list,” meaning he can’t leave Pakistan. Such a ban is often put on someone suspected or implicated in a criminal case. He said Bhoja had been ordered into protective custody and a criminal investigation launched into the incident.
He later said that the airline “seems to be at fault as it had acquired a very old aircraft.”….
Read the full story at The Independent…..
The Independant
SATURDAY 21 APRIL 2012
The Airport Informer 