Karachi, Sep 8 (PTI) A four-member team of the International Air Transport Associations (IATA) has started an operational safety audit of the Pakistan International Airlines' different departments like flight operation, security and engineering, according to a media report.

The team, which arrived in Karachi on Saturday night, started the audit on Monday, Dawn reported.

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The team held a meeting in the morning and then visited the cargo area of Karachi airport, the report said.

They carried out a comprehensive visit of the airport apron/ramp area where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded.

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The team remained at the apron area for more than two hours and carried out an inspection of the loading and unloading process. The sources said the audit team also sought the record of the PIA's engineering section and other relevant documents.

The team is expected to carry out inspection of a PIA's flight arriving from Islamabad or Lahore.

The IATA had designed the audit programme in 2003 to assess operational management and control systems of the airlines. After the audit, the airlines are given an operational clearance certificate.

Prior to the IATA team's visit, PIA's Chief Executive Officer retired Air Marshal Arshad Malik had carried out an inspection of operational installations and briefed the heads of engineering, ramp service and flight safety departments about the visit of the audit team.

The IATA carries out operational safety audit every two years. The last audit of PIA was carried out in 2018.

Prior to the team's visit, the PIA management made necessary preparations and removed inoperable aircraft and equipment from the apron of Karachi's Jinnah International Air­port and also covered the debris of the PIA plane A320 that crashed into a residential area in the city on May 22.

A total of 97 passengers and a girl on the ground were killed in the crash, while two passengers survived.

Albert Tjoeng, assistant director corporate communications — Asia Pacific IATA — said: “Following the accident involving PK8303, we have initiated an operational safety verification audit of the PIA. This is the standard practice after the airline experiences an accident or other serious event.” PTI

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)