Islamabad: The licences of 50 pilots were cancelled by the Pakistan government for flying with fake credentials. A proper investigation would be conducted to find out as to how they obtained their certificates informed by Civil Aviation Authority of the country.
The issue of fake licences surfaced in the wake of the tragic crash of a Pakistan International Airlines plane in Karachi on May 22, killing 97 people, when Minister of Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan told the media that 260 of the country's 860 active pilots had either fake licences or had cheated in their exams.
The authorities informed the Islamabad High Court that the International Civil Aviation Organisation had reviewed 860 licences under the guidelines and therefore cancelled 50 of them after thorough scrutiny. The names were made public so that the other dedicated pilots are not under any negative impression.
The pilots were working for the national flag carrier PIA as well as other Pakistani private and foreign airlines, said a report filed by Additional Attorney General Tariq Mehmood Khokhar in response to a petition submitted by pilot Syed Saqlain Haider, whose credentials have not been found to be fake. A CAA report said the process of verification of 259 licences had been completed. After due process, on July 6, a summary for cancellation of licences of 28 pilots was submitted to the federal cabinet, which approved it the next day. The petitioner's name has been included in the list of the 28 pilots.