Malaysia grounds Pakistan-licensed pilots after Pak govt admits '30% carry fake licences'

Following the European Union, sources report that Malaysia too has grounded Pakistani-licensed pilots of Thursday after the Imran government admitted to fake licences. This move comes two days after the European Union (EU) air safety agency suspended Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) from operating in Europe from July 1 for the next six months. Pakistan's Civil Aviation Minister admitted that more than 30% of the country's civilian pilots have fake licenses and are not qualified to fly, a month after the Karachi plane crash killing 97.

'30% of pilots have fake license, paid others to take exams': Pakistan Aviation Minister

UAE reviews PIA-licenced pilots

On July 1, Reuters reported that the United Arab Emirates is seeking to verify the credentials of Pakistani pilots and engineers employed in its airlines. Moreover, the Director-General of the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi requested verification of the credentials of Pakistani pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, and flight operations officers working in UAE, as per reports. Pakistan reportedly has a total of 860 pilots, 107 of whom work for foreign airlines.

EU suspends Pakistan International Airlines from operating in Europe for 6 months

Pakistan grounds 262 pilots

On June 26, Pakistan's Civil Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said 262 pilots in the country 'did not take the exam themselves' and had paid someone else to sit it on their behalf. He informed that the pilots have zero flying experience and that PIA has grounded all its pilots who hold fake licenses with immediate effect. Taking cognisance of the matter, CEO, PIA, Air Marshall Arshad Malik, had written a letter to the Secretary of Aviation to immediately ground 141 names which were listed, while remaining names produced by the government were allegedly not a part of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) anymore or has fabricated details.

Karachi Plane Crash: PM Modi expresses grief over lives lost, prays for those injured

This move was done after Ghulam revealed the findings of a report prepared by an investigation team, stating that the pilot and controller didn't follow the standard rules. Khan said that the pilot and co-pilot were not focused, and were discussing coronavirus as they attempted to land the Airbus A320. On May 22, a Pakistan International Airline (PIA) flight on its way from Lahore to Karachi, crashed in the area near Jinnah International Airport - a minute before landing in Karachi, killing 97 and only two survivors.

Karachi Plane Crash: 97 dead, two survive, crash landing injures 11 people on ground