News

Botched PIA repair brought near disaster


26/ 3/2004

WRONG rivets on a Pakistani International Airways Boeing 747 caused part of its engine to fall on the runway at Manchester Airport threatening a disaster.
Fortunately a pilot of another jet saw it fall off and alerted air traffic controllers who stopped other planes landing while the debris was cleared.
A disturbing report by aviation inspectors published recently blamed the incident on the poor standard of maintenance on the PIA jumbo jet which was carrying 303 passengers.
No one was hurt in the incident, but government inspectors have made a series of recommendations.
The standard of maintenance on the PIA jumbo was severely criticised after a large part of one of its four engines sheared off shortly after it landed at Manchester after flying in from New York.
A report by the Air Accident Investigation Branch said: ". . . in less favourable circumstances, an aircraft taking off on the same runway, shortly afterwards, could have been at risk of colliding with the debris on the runway at a critical time."
The report slammed the standard of maintenance after inspectors found the wrong rivets had been used and work was not recorded.
The report said: "It would appear that the rivets . . . were replaced without any reference to a manual or understanding of their purpose. It also seems that the installer . . . considered them so unimportant that their installation was not recorded or mentioned."
Inspectors also recommended more rigorous maintenance routines after the incident in 2002.
Another report on a separate incident revealed bosses at Manchester had adopted new docking procedures after a jet which was trying to park beside a terminal building crashed into an air bridge which was left in the wrong position.
The left-hand engine of an Air Transat Airbus A310 which had just landed from Toronto, with 255 passengers on board, was severely damaged, according to the report. A technical problem had left the air-bridge - used by passengers to get on and off the plane - in the wrong position.
An airport spokesman said: "We have worked closely with the AAIB throughout their investigations and as reported in their recommendations, we are changing our procedures accordingly."


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