Too early to put pilot in the dock: Gulf Air

KOCHI: Even as the preliminary report by the Director-General of Civil Aviation put the blame on the pilot of the ill-fated Gulf Air aircraft, the airline authorities are refusing to buy the argument before the conclusion of the investigations.Katherine Genowefa Kaczynska, senior manager Corporate Communication, Gulf Air, told ‘Express’ that it would not be proper to blame somebody at an early stage of inquiry.“Commenting on the cause of accident without completing the investigation would not only be improper but misleading and incorrect as well, and damaging to the reputation of the parties involved,” Kaczynska said. Gulf Air’s support team and representatives from the Bahrain Civil Aviation had arrived here on Monday night itself.  “The team includes technical representatives from the airline’s engineering, safety investigations, A320 fleet and communications division, as well as members of Gulf Air’s Special Assistance Team,” the airline official said.  She added that an independent investigation team has been constituted.“The three-member investigation committee is led by the Deputy Director of Safety for the Indian Civil Authority. A preliminary report is expected in a week, followed by a final report in approximately six weeks,” Kaczynska said. However, Captain Nasser Al Salmi, Gulf Air chief operating officer, was quoted as saying at a press conference the other day that it was not the pilots’ first landing at Kochi and that they knew the conditions well. He was further quoted that the pilot Hussain Mahmood had been with the airline since 2002 and had experience in flying Airbus A320, 330 and 340. “He has been a captain for the last 18 months,” Capt Al Salmi has been quoted as saying at a press conference at the Gulf Air headquarters in Muharraq, Bahrain.The co-pilot joined Gulf Air last year and has several years’ experience with other airlines. Meanwhile, the Cochin International Airport Limited director A C K Nair refuted the reports that CCTV visuals showed the plane landing incorrectly.  “The CIAL has not installed cameras which capture the pictures of landing,” Nair said.