PIA rapped over jet blazes at Manchester Airport
 

Five fires on Pakistani International Airline jumbo jets at Manchester Airport were caused by faulty maintenance at the airline's Karachi workshops, a report has found. Experts were called into to investigate after the fifth fire in March last year resulted in an emergency evacuation of passengers after the jet, a new Boeing 777, taxied to a standstill.

After a 10 month investigation the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said that some maintenance men in Karachi were clearing heat shields in wheels by submerging them in a bath of flammable solvents even though they had been warned not to do this. This cased the saturated shields to catch fire as the pilot applied the breaks after landing with full loads at Manchester airport.

The report reveals that PIA bosses were aware of the problem as far back as June 2004 when they issued a memo outlawing the practice of using solvent baths for heat shields. But the practice appears to have continued in some cases says the report.

As a result of these findings PIA have undertake a re-training programme of maintenance staff and ordered that heat shields should be steam cleaned from now on.

The report also criticises the crew of the Boeing for acting too slowly in evaluating the 332 passengers. After being warned by fire chiefs that flames were coming from the wheel, and that an immediate evacuation was necessary, the report says the crew took too long getting passengers down the emergency slides because they failed to send them all down in twos.

It says: 'This, together with the apparent lack of a sense of urgency and the fact that some bags were thrown down the slides ahead of passengers, contributed to the long evacuation time of four minutes.'

http://www.aaib.dft.gov.uk/publicati...er__ap_bgl.cfm

Not very security concious either http://www.historyofpia.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4773

Sorry if I'm being dim, but am I missing something here? This report is almost two months old. Is there anything new?

I did a PPRUNE search and could find no info on the results of the enquiry. If this is of no interest I will delete the thread

Not at all LTNman, the report maybe two months old, but no one has brought it to this forum as yet.

I know from experience how much business PIA bring to Manchester Airport, but at what price? Safety needs to be at the forefront of every airfields minds.

Since the last incident PIA have had a good record into and out of Manchester lets hope the worst is behind them and we can look forward to a renewed era of flights from PIA.

Oh how I wish we could evaluate our passengers... before they got on.... :} :}

Well what was going on yesterday pm? A PIA 777 getting a good soaking from the fire crew on Papa taxiway after landing around 0930. Fluid all seemed to be aimed at Right Main Gear.

From the report

So were the crew sloppy or is this a realistic evacuation time when you don’t use Boeing employees?

First 777-200LR delivery for PIA I suspect. Aircarft then entered serviced for the sector Manchester/Karachi.

Scottie Dog

Some Companies use what's called a precautionary disembarkation which would involve use of slides if no steps available. This does not carrry the same urgency as a full emergancy evacuation to avoid unnecessary injury. Just a thought!

Here is your answer....

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=5681753

It's a new policy.

All arriving PIA 777s will have a wash to get rid of the evidence of hydraulic leaks!!!:suspect:

Lets all kick PIA in the teeth eh? A Good airline in need of some minor cleanups, and safe (look at their safety record).

I wonder if the AAIB would have been so quick to criticize a first world crew? One only has to wonder.

Am I being a bit dense? Do I assume that 5 "fires" have only occurred at MAN?

Or do they happen everywhere and only MAN ones are reported? (here?)

the AAIB report postulates that most of the pia wheel fires occured at MAN because that would be the first full weight landing following maintenance at karachi which contaminated the brake shields...

The report also criticises the crew of the Boeing for acting too slowly in evaluating the 332 passengers. After being warned by fire chiefs that flames were coming from the wheel, and that an immediate evacuation was necessary, the report says the crew took too long getting passengers down the emergency slides because they failed to send them all down in twos.

Understandably reluctant maybe. After all they were stationary with a fire tender present. Evacuations can cause severe injury's and even fatalities.