Islamabad: Government-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Sunday launched investigations against a senior pilot who slept during an international flight handing over the charge to a trainee.
The PIA pilot was found sleeping in the passenger compartment soon after flight PK-785 took off from Islamabad for London. The pilot reportedly took a two-and-a-half-hour nap while an under-training pilot handled the aircraft.
PIA at first was reluctant to take any step against the influential Captain Amir Hashmi, a former president of Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association (PALPA), until the issue was taken up by higher authorities in the aviation division.
PIA sources said on April 26, Mr Hashmi, who was in-charge of operating the London-bound PK-785 carrying over 300 passengers on board, had left the cockpit in control of the under-training first officer Ali Hassan Yazdani while he slept in the business class cabin.
Airlines spokesperson Daniyal Gilani confirmed that the pilot had been taken off flight duty and an investigation was being conducted by the PIA.
Mr Hashmi, an instructor, gets over Rs 1,00,000 each month to train pilots. He was supposed to train Yazdani during the flight, however, instead of performing his duty, Hashmi went for a quick lie-down, the report said.
This comes at a time when a top PIA official is facing serious allegations of corruption and has left the country after he was given a special exemption by the interior ministry to fly abroad for a month even though his name is still on the country’s no-fly list. Bernd Hildenbrand, the suspended CEO of the national flag carrier is under investigation on charges of corruption amounting to billions.
