Mumbai/New Delhi: Acting tough against
pilots obtaining their commercial licences by submitting fake
records and documents, DGCA has grounded 14 pilots with more
such cases likely to come to light.
While Commercial Pilot Licenses (CPL) of 14 pilots
have been cancelled till Thursday evening, more such cases are
being studied, DGCA sources said, adding about ten touts have
also been arrested in the case.
The move came as the Rajasthan Police unearthed a scam
in which a non-existent pilots' training school was allegedly
doling out fake records to the aspirants in their bid to
secure CPLs.
"Following inputs from the anti-corruption bureau (of
Rajasthan) which is investigating the case, we had cancelled
the licences of eight pilots. We cancelled another six CPLs
yesterday," senior officials of the Directorate General of
Civil Aviation said.
A person is eligible to fly a commercial aircraft only
when he or she secures a CPL, which is given out after a
person completes 200 hours of flying during the training.
However, the 14 pilots whose licenses have been
revoked had allegedly not flown the mandatory hours and are
alleged to have got fake certificates from the Rajasthan
flying training institute.
The state police have also arrested two such pilots,
who, during the interrogation, allegedly revealed the modus
operandi.
DGCA chief EK Bharat Bhushan had recently said
that the CPLs of around 10,000 pilots was under the scanner,
besides about 4,000 holders of Airlines Pilots Training
License (ATPLs).
He had also said that DGCA would conduct third-party
audit of all the 40 flying schools in the country in the wake
of cases of forgery behind securing of licences coming to
light.
Earlier this month, authorities said they had taken
action against 57 pilots who had reported for duty drunk over
the past two years.
PTI
First Published: Friday, March 25, 2011, 22:46