Following the revelation made by the Aviation Minister, Ghulam Sarwar, last month regarding the dubious licenses held by most of the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) pilots, aviation authorities of 7 countries including Malaysia and the UAE have asked Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) to verify the credentials of Pakistani pilots employed in their airlines.
Earlier this month, the Omani Civil Aviation Authority (OCAA) had requested Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) to verify the license of all Pakistani pilots working in the aviation sector in Oman to ensure public safety.
ALSO READ
Gmail is Getting a Massive Redesign With Improved Features
Additionally, OCAA had warned to ban PIA from using its airspace as the former had asked the latter to explain the measures taken after the disclosure by the Aviation Minister about fake licenses of most of the national carrier’s pilots.
Responding to the request, PCAA has assured OCAA that the licenses of all pilots working in Oman have been verified once again and validly issued.
In a letter sent to the Senior Director at OCAA’s Assurance & Control department, Mubarak Al-Ghelani, the PCAA explained that all CPL/ATPL pilots employed in Oman possess genuine licenses issued by the PCAA.
The letter added that the issue of fake licenses has been misinterpreted in both national and international media and social networking platforms.
It is important to clarify that all CPL/ATPL pilot licenses issued by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority are genuine and validly issued. None of the pilot licenses are fake, rather the matter has been misconstrued and incorrectly highlighted in the media/social media.
ALSO READ
US President Donald Trump Wants to Buy PIA’s Roosevelt Hotel in New York
CAA clarified that the matter pertains to the use of fake degrees or tests to obtain genuine licenses. PCAA reiterated to follow the policy of ‘zero tolerance’ against those who earn licenses through illicit ways and prosecute them under the Pakistan Civil Aviation Rules 1994.
PCAA has verified the credentials of 96 Pakistani pilots working in the UAE, Vietnam, Bahrain, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Turkey till now.
However, some media elements tried to put a spin on the letter in an attempt to shape public narrative against PCAA by intentionally highlighting only the part of the letter which addresses OCAA request for verification of the credentials of pilots of Pakistani origin.
In a twitter post, Quraishi on purpose wrote without mentioning that the PCAA’s letter has been issued in response to OCAA’s request rather than categorically denouncing the fake license scandal.
