License probe: 180 out of 262 pilots cleared

Panel declares 82 pilots as fake

ISLAMABAD:

The inquiry committee probing into dubious licences of 262 commercial pilots has completed its investigation and declared that 82 of these pilots had fake licences. The panel has, however, cleared the remaining 180 pilots.

According to sources in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the committee completed its investigation after hearing all the pilots. The committee had earlier suspended licences of 262 pilots and issued show cause notices to 195 of them. It, however, cleared 180 of them, ultimately.

The 82 pilots who were found to have fake licences were divided into two categories.

The committee decided to cancel licences of 50 pilots. It has already cancelled licences of 28 pilots while initiating action against 22 others after approval of the federal cabinet.

However, the commercial pilot licenses (CPLs) and the private pilot licences (PPLs) of 32 pilots – who had cheated in the airline transport pilot licence (ATPL) exams – have been suspended for one year.

Pakistan’s aviation authorities on June 26 grounded 262 airline pilots in a widening scandal following a fatal plane crash in Karachi on May 22.

Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said June 26 the pilots were under investigation and five senior officials at the CAA who were sacked over the scandal might be prosecuted.

The pilots included 141 at state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which employs 450 pilots. The remaining pilots worked for private airlines and charter services. On June 25, PIA said it grounded 150 of its pilots for obtaining a licence through cheating and began to terminate their contracts.

The scandal emerged on June 22 when the aviation minister announced in the parliament the findings of an initial inquiry into a PIA Airbus A320 crash that killed 97 people, including all crew members.

The initial investigation concluded the pilots were talking about the coronavirus while they attempted to land the aircraft in Karachi without putting its wheels down.