Fake pilot licences

The PIA will be grounding nearly 150 out of 426 pilots for holding dubious licenses. The news is shocking as many pilots had had operating flights without proper flying licencing, raising even more concerns about flight safety precautions.

Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar had said that forty percent of pilots had suspicious licences and might not be properly trained. This implies that 262 pilots out of a total 860 in the country have fake licences and need to be grounded. Many pilots have managed to get licenses without appearing in any examinations or tests.

These revelations by the minister cannot be sidelined as it affects our lives. This criminal behaviour must be penalised and cases should be lodged against them so that they cannot fly any planes and put lives at risk. This also deprives hardworking young pilots from getting a job in airlines where others with bogus certificates enjoy the perks and privileges.

The erratic behaviour of PIA pilots is not known. In 2013, a PIA pilot was jailed in Britain for being drunk before he was due to fly a long-haul plane with 156 people on board. The pilot was arrested from the cockpit in Bradford and was found to have three times the legal amount in alcohol in his blood and was even unsteady on his feet.

This caused a national embarrassment yet the airline did not take any action. In May 2017, a pilot was caught sleeping for several hours in the business class of a PIA plane bound for London while an unexperienced trainee officer handled the plane. There have been numerous incidents when PIA pilots and cabin crew have been involved in undisciplined actions.

These investigations come to flight after the PIA Flight PK-8303 crash in Karachi. A preliminary report has primarily blamed the pilot for the incident saying he was non-serious and appeared overconfident. The aviation minister informed the National Assembly that pilot was chatting with the co-pilot about the coronavirus crisis during the flight as it affected his family.

The Supreme Court has taken notice and sought a reply from civil aviation agency and airlines about the lack of actions against pilots with fake licenses. Such pilots may even be working for private airlines and actions must be taken against them. This issue must be pursued and action must be taken against those responsible.