Fake letter circulating on social media over PIA grounding pilots

ISLAMABAD: A fake letter has been circulating on social media supposedly from the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) chief stating that the airline has disclosed a list of pilots with suspicious licences.

The fake letter is addressed to United States Ambassador in Pakistan Mr Paul Jones with the subject regarding PIA safety and regulatory compliance signed by PIA Chief Executive Officer Air Marshal Arshad Malik.

The letter states that PIA has probed into the use of unfair means to obtain pilot licences, and has resultantly disclosed the list of pilots with suspicious licences and grounded them with immediate effects. It also states that the PIA has ensured that all pilots have genuine licences endorsed by the government and have physical possession of them during all domestic and international flights.

Although the letter is determined to be bogus, the national airlines has grounded 150 pilots for possessing bogus licences while continuing to operating planes in the country.

On Friday, Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said the inquiry against pilots having dubious credentials has been completed. He said that nine pilots have confessed to having fake credentials and 148 have been grounded.

READ MORE: PIA plane was fit to fly, pilot held responsible for crash

The minister said that 262 pilots having false credentials will immediately be grounded. The pilots include 141 from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), nine from private airlines Air Blue and ten from Serene Air while the rest were from flying clubs, chartered plane services or foreign airlines.

The minister said that the airlines and clubs had been conveyed that pilots credentials are dubious and their names also been placed on the website of the Civil Aviation Authority. He said the pilot was all recruited before 2018 and inquires will be conducted against them.

The issue of dubious licenses drew global attention after the aviation minister declared in the National Assembly that around 150 pilots from PIA had fake licences. The minister told parliament there are 860 active pilots in the country while 262 pilots did not even take their exams themselves.

READ MORE: Supreme Court takes notice of pilots with fake licences

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed had summoned the director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to explain the issue of fake licences. The top judge has sought a report within two weeks over allegations that pilots continue to fly plane and put lives at risk.

The International Air Transport Association expressed concern over the “serious lapse in licensing and safety oversight by the aviation regulator”. Amid the aviation crisis, the PIA management decided to ground 150 pilots with immediate effect.