Over two years have passed since the tragic Bhoja Air Flight 213 crashed but the judicial investigation commission has yet to fix responsibility. There seems to be no end in sight for the protracted inquiry as the commercial airline has shut down and its management has ‘gone missing’, claimed an official requesting anonymity.
Their disappearance came to the fore when none of the owners or managers of Bhoja Air presented themselves before a two-member judicial investigation commission that was appointed by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in July last year.
The high court had formed the inquiry body after several close relatives of the 121 passengers approached the court for financial compensation.
As a first step towards the investigation process, the commission, through a public advertisement, directed all the officials concerned to appear before it to join the investigations. Owner and management of Bhoja Air, the Pakistan Civilian Aviation Authority (PCAA), Capital Development Authority, the Islamabad police chief, ministries of defence and interior, and relatives of the deceased were among those invited.
However, Bhoja Air chairman Farooq Bhoja and CEO Arshad Jalil failed to show up.
“During the investigation it came to the commission’s knowledge that the owners of Bhoja Air have shut down their air carrier and sold their aircraft to another party,” the official said.
PCAA should be held responsible for this decision to close its commercial air company in a suspicious and hushed way, he maintained. “The owners of the airline could not sell their aircraft without the PCAA’s approval as they were under investigation by the commission.”
According to another official, the whereabouts of CEO Arshad Jalil were unknown to the commission, while Farooq Bhoja could not appear on medical grounds.
Nevertheless, their deliberate absence not only hampered the investigation but it also caused a long delay in finalizing the probe report.
