China Neighbour Vietnam, Gulf Airlines Ground Pakistani Pilots After Minister Claims 30% Pilots Hold Dubious Licenses

Pakistan's Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told the Parliament that of the total 860 pilots in the country, as many as 262 were found to have obtained their licences through unfair means.

Arriving passengers walk past a health quarantine sign at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. FILE PIC/AFP.

New Delhi, June 29: In a shocking revelation by Pakistan’s aviation minister, more than 30 per cent of commercial pilots in the country hold fraudulent licenses which came to fore during the initial investigation into the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) crash that killed 97 people on 22 May. According to the report in online daily The Print,  the aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told the Parliament that of the total 860 pilots in the country, as many as 262 were found to have obtained their licences through unfair means. Soon after the announcement, several countries including Vietnam and Pakistan’s allies in the middle-east have gone ahead and grounded Pakistani pilots working for their airlines and taking a review of their licences. The claims were further confirmed when Pakistani journalist Gul Bukhari tweeted that Kuwait Airlines has grounded staff across the board hailing from Pakistan.

“Kuwait Airways has grounded all 7 Pakistani pilots and suspended 56 engineers and ground handling staff. Similar reports from Qatar, Oman, Emirates and Vietnam,” she tweeted.

The head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has also ordered a suspension for all Pakistani pilots working for Vietnamese airlines as per the statement released. Around 753 Pakistan pilots fly domestic airlines of which 107 of them serve foreign airlines, as per the minister statement, quote in the daily. However, the aviation minister didn’t disclose any information on whether the pilots who flew the PIA flight on 22 May had fake licences, but stated that the pilots were distracted and also didn’t pay heed to repeated warnings from air traffic controllers not to land. The minister said pilots were discussing corona throughout the flight and were not focused. They talked about the coronavirus and how their families were affected even as air traffic controllers told the pilots not to land three times, but the captain did not pay any heed to these instructions, the minister added as reported in The Print.