New Delhi: The initial investigation into the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) crash that killed 97 people on 22 May has found that 30 per cent of the country’s commercial pilots hold fraudulent licences, according to reports.
Of Pakistan’s 860 pilots, as many as 262 were found to have obtained their licences through unfair means, the country’s aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told Parliament last week. Khan said pilots obtained their licences by paying other people to sit for exams.
“(They) were found not to have given their exams themselves,” he said. “They give money and have a dummy candidate sit in their place.”
The PIA wrote to foreign missions and regulatory bodies assuring them that 141 of its 434 pilots were grounded Saturday. Nine pilots from Air Blue, 10 from Serene Airline, and 17 from Shaheen Airlines have also been grounded following the government’s findings.
The Pakistan Airline Pilots Association has disputed the government’s findings and called for judicial intervention.
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107 serve foreign airlines
According to the brief by the aviation minister, most Pakistani pilots — 753 — fly domestic airlines but 107 of them serve foreign airlines.
Since the announcement by the government, several countries — including Vietnam and Pakistan’s allies in the middle-east — have grounded Pakistani pilots working for their airlines and are reviewing their licences.
The 27 Pakistani pilots flying with Vietnamese airlines will be subject to a review process, following which they will be cleared if their licences are approved, Dinh Viet Thang, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV), said Saturday.
Pakistani journalist Gul Bukhari tweeted that Kuwait Airlines has grounded staff across the board hailing from Pakistan.
“Kuwait Airways has grounded all 7 Pakistani pilots and suspended 56 engineers and ground handling staff. Similar reports from Qatar, Oman, Emirates and Vietnam,” she tweeted.
Kuwait Airways has grounded all 7 Pakistani pilots and suspended 56 engineers and ground handling staff. Similar reports from Qatar, Oman, Emirates and Vietnam.
— Gul Bukhari (@GulBukhari) June 27, 2020
The 22 May crash
The aviation minister refrained from disclosing whether the pilots who flew the PIA flight on 22 May had dubious licences, but conceded they were distracted and ignored repeated warnings from air traffic controllers not to land.
“The pilots were discussing corona throughout the flight. They were not focused. They talked about the coronavirus and how their families were affected,” said Khan, adding that air traffic controllers told the pilots not to land three times, “but the captain did not pay any heed to these instructions”.
According to reports, the pilots attempted to land without the plane’s landing gear in place, scraping the engines before lifting off once again. The damaged engines could not keep the plane in the air, causing it to crash.
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