Bek Air defends operations after regulator’s safety accusations

Grounded Kazakh operator Bek Air is continuing to defend its operations and practices after being slated by the country’s regulator in the aftermath of the fatal Fokker 100 accident at Almaty. Bek Air is accusing Kazakhstan’s aviation administration of proving “strained and biased” remarks about the airline’s procedures and safety management following an inspection of the carrier. The administration had particularly highlighted missing data plates on engines which, it said, prevented identification of individual powerplants or their usage. Bek Air attributes the loss of some data plates to “vibrations and other loads on the aircraft”, claiming that it chose to remove plates which were “weakly attached” to expensive components. <br/>