50 pilots terminated over suspicious degrees: Aviation minister

ISLAMABAD: Federal Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan Monday said that they have terminated the services of 50 pilots after scrutiny found degrees possessed by them as fake, ARY NEWS reported.

“We had launched an inquiry against 262 pilots over suspicious credentials and 50 of them were terminated after a probe found them guilty,” he said while responding to queries during the National Assembly session regarding the fake pilot license scandal.

He further shared that 73 people were recruited in the national flag carrier during the incumbent tenure and all recruitments were based on merit and given after following all procedures.

He said that previously jobs were given in the aviation sector based on political affiliations and fake degrees and they have terminated the services of such officials.

Sharing details of flight operations, Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that two flights were operating between Karachi and Sukkur while Dalbadin airport has also been made operational.

On Jan 29, a pilot and five officers of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) were arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in fake pilots’ licence scandal.

The FIA corporate crime circle completed its investigation into the issuance of fake licences.

Overall six arrests have been made including five officers of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) by the agency’s corporate crime circle.

The accused were allegedly involved in the issuance of Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) and Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) by CAA on the basis of a fake pilot license exam.