Fake PIA pilot arrested at Lahore Airport

LAHORE: The Airport Security Force (ASF) on Tuesday arrested a man posing as a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) pilot at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport, ARY News reported.

As per the ASF spokesperson’s statement, the fake pilot identified as Ahmed was attempting to enter the international departure lounge using a fake identification card of PIA pilot.

The arrested accused was promptly handed over to the Airport Police for further legal action.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered against the fake pilot, and an investigation is underway to uncover the extent of his fraudulent activities and any potential security implications.

It is pertinent to mention here that after the pilots’ license scandal, the European Aviation Agency imposed a ban on all Pakistani airlines in July 2020.

The CAA has unearthed a network -comprising of its employees and some pilots- allegedly involved in the fake pilots’ licenses scam.

According to sources, the CAA is carrying out raids for two accused allegedly involved in the scam after it has emerged that some of the aviation employees were using their frontmen to collect money for the fake licenses.

They said that license branch employees allegedly received hundreds of thousands of rupees from each pilot for a paper and in return, another person was allowed to sit in place of the pilot.

“The CAA has acquired remand of some of the license branch officials and pilots,” they said adding that the span of the investigations has been expanded. “It has also been decided to register FIRs against these elements,” the sources said.