In the month of January this year , in an effort to diffuse the concerns of global aviation industry on the matter of alleged fake Pakistani pilot licences, the Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) had decided to outsource the process of holding licensing exams to the United Kingdom’s CAA.
But , as a new development , Pakistan's PCAA aims to restart the licensing pilots in February 22, with the release of an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) audit, coimng out clean from the scandal over fake licenses.
At present, all the commercial / airline transport pilot (CPL/ATPL) licensing exams of the pakistani CAA are in a state of suspension, post Aviation Minister's statement that licences of 262 Pakistani pilots were fake.
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The ICAO, the UN Aviation body criticized Pakistan in September 2020 to go for the immediate corrective actions and suspend the issue of any new pilot licenses after false licenses came to light following the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Airbus A320 aircraft in May that year, in which 97 people were killed.
After continuous postponement due to Covid-19 concerns, atlast a nine-member ICAO team carried out an audit in Pakistan for 10 days, which was completed on Friday.
"We are hopeful we will resume issuance of licensing following the release of release of the ICAO audit report expected in February," Khaqan Murtaza, director general of the PCAA, told reporters on Monday.
Though unwarranted, the pilot licence scandal hurt the Pakistan's aviation industry and tainted the integrity of PCAA and also restricted the flag carrier PIA, that was barred from flying to Europe and the United States.
That time, UN Security Management System (UNSMS) had issued caution as well ,
“Due to an ongoing investigation of the CAA , Pakistan due to dubious licenses caution is advised on the use of Pakistan-registered air operators.
In cummulative developments, during June last year, Pakistan's regulator grounded 262 airline pilots suspected of dodging their exams following checks of their qualifications.
The action was prompted by the preliminary report on an airliner crash in the city of Karachi last year, which found that the pilots had failed to follow standard procedures and disregarded alarms.
"The situation is that they have cleared us but a final report is awaited. The report is expected any time after mid-February," Murtaza said.
The ICAO audit team members visited Pakistan aeronautical complex , Islamabad International Airport where they observed the process of departure of Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) domestic flight PK-300, security, cargo terminal, safety investigation board and other areas.
ICAO experts had been conducting the audit of security, pilot licensing, training and the areas where they had concerns previously. The team has also been conducting the audit of airworthiness of aircraft, aerodromes and ground aids, the aviation’s aircraft accident investigation board and the engineering department.
A spokesman for the PCAA said the ICAO experts had completed the USOAP (Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme) audit of the authority on Friday. The audit report was quite positive, with no substantial problems, as a result of unwavering efforts over a year, he claimed.
Earlier , the PCAA and the United Kingdom’s Department for Transport (DfT) had performed a comprehensive joint inspection of selected airports in Pakistan as part of the flight security preparations. This was part of an agreement between the two governments on direct flights from Pakistan by British airlines.
