Islamabad: Federal Minister Aviation Ghulam Sarwar on Thursday said the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has started scrutiny of over 860 pilots' credentials and those with fake credentials will not only lose their jobs but they will also face legal proceedings.

While talking to business recorder, aviation minister said out of 5 recent plane crash incidents, 4 incident occurred due to human negligence and remaining one happened due to some technical fault.

He said that CAA has already started scrutiny of pilots' credentials and will start forensic audit of their credentials soon. "We shall also examine how they acquired their licenses and how they passed the examination. Those found with fake credentials will not only be terminated but also face legal proceedings under section 420 of Pakistan Penal Code for fraud and cheating public at large and we shall also recover the amount from such pilots that they have drawn throughout their services," he added.

He also said that PIA was a profitable organization during the rule of General Pervez Musharraf (retd), however, during the previous two governments, the entity had been politicized, resulting in huge losses. Now, PIA is struggling for its survival.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) grounded 150 pilots with "dubious licenses" on Thursday, a day after the preliminary report of the Karachi plane crash blamed the pilots and the air traffic control (ATC) for the incident.

A spokesperson for the national carrier said those pilots who get their licenses verified will be allowed back on duty. "Grounding so many pilots will affect the PIA flight operations," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added they have already dismissed six pilots possessing fake degrees.

"We have asked the Civil Aviation Authority to send the list of the remaining licenses," the spokesperson said. "We acknowledge the report and are working on making our standard better," he added.

In a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), PIA chairman requested the authority for details of the remaining pilots with dubious and fake commercial licenses.

"Action will be taken against all those pilots with fake licenses," PIA chairman said, adding they will take all the necessary steps to make the commercial operations safe.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020