KARACHI: Pakistan Inter-national Airlines (PIA) has grounded 141 pilots whose licences are suspected to be fake. Subsequently, all foreign missions and global regulatory and safety bodies have been informed by PIA about the said action with a view to protecting its credibility.
Although the ministry of aviation has issued a list of 262 pilots who are said to have acquired licences through unfair means, no action has so far been reported against the officials of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority who were behind the issuance of such licences. Out of total 262 pilots, 141 are from PIA, nine pilots are from Airblue and the remaining 10 are presently serving in Serene Airline.
PIA spokesman said the airline had immediately grounded all 141 pilots, whose names are mentioned in the list issued by ministry of aviation and CEO PIA Air Marshal Arshad also informed about the steps taken by the PIA to all foreign missions.
He said that the CEO PIA also informed the Aviation Ministry about airline's action and added that the names of senior officials of Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (PALPA), including its spokesman Captain Qasim Qadir, were also mentioned in the list.
Moreover, he said that out of total 141 suspected pilot license holders, 17 airmen were identified by the airline almost 18 months ago. He said that captain Yahya Sindhela, who was allegedly responsible in the Panjgor air crash, was also in the list and added that the scrutiny of pilots' credentials had been commenced after the Panjgor crash.
Meanwhile, Captain Chaudhry Salman, President PALPA, sought the Chief Justice of Pakistan's (CJP's) intervention into the matter and requested him to constitute a Judicial Commission comprising competent persons and experts from aviation industry in order to ensure fair and transparent inquiry into the suspected licence case. He said the commission should investigate the proposed list of allegedly fake pilot licenses and start the process from Palpa. All PIA pilots present themselves to any inquiry under the auspices of the Supreme Court, he added.
"Our goal is not to defend the 141 PIA pilots but to protect Pakistan's identity, protect the dignity of Pakistan's aviation industry and fight for the rights of the pilot community," he said.
He criticised the aviation minister for revealing the list and its content. He accused the aviation ministry of issuing the list of pilots having suspected licences without carrying out research and investigation "with the aim to defame pilots' community".
He blamed the aviation Minister to divert the attention of the public and stakeholders from PK8303 unfortunate incident by making this list in the Assembly and clarified that there was no question about the pilots' license and degree on this flight.
He termed the issuance of list as an attempt aimed at protecting the 'special group' responsible for the crash and to tarnish the image of the pilots' community. He said Palpa would file a case in Supreme Court to regain pilots' honour and to make the names of all "conspirators" public. Palpa also demanded the formation of a Judicial Commission, which should take all controls of PIA and PCAA with the suspension of its heads, to carry out an impartial and transparent inquiry into pilots suspected license case because "both PIA and PCAA had completely failed to meet their legal obligations". Moreover, Palpa denied any PIA action against pilots, saying that airline had not issued any warning or show cause notice to any pilot in this matter. Meanwhile, global safety and transport bodies expressed concern over the issue, saying that they were closely monitoring the matter.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020