The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) 8303 crash, which took the lives of 97 passengers on board, needs thorough investigation to ensure that such an incident never happens again. After a week, the government has now finally made an announcement about an investigation, with Prime Minister Imran Khan directing the concerned authorities to carry out an in-depth probe into the tragedy and to release the investigation reports of all plane crashes that happened in the past. Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan has further added that the government has decided to publicly release the investigation reports of plane crashes of the past on June 22 and no one would be unfairly protected or implicated in the reports which would be laid before the parliament and the public.

It seems then that we still have to wait for what really happened in the horrific plane crash in a month on June 22. The decision of making the finding of the crash investigation public may be controversial but it will ensure further transparency, which is a step towards accountability and making sure that future accidents are not likely to take place. It is cautioned to the government that the publication of the previous decisions be handled with care and not be unnecessarily politicised.

It may take some time but the verdict has to come out and be known to the people. Otherwise, there are far too many speculations, the pilot is always scapegoated and no proper structural aviation reform is suggested. A week after this crash, the news cycle already seems to have moved on to other issues. We must ensure that until the truth is brought to the forefront and the government does not initiate action to rectify the conditions which enabled an airbus to crash minutes before landing, our calls for accountability do not fade out.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan