The need of the hour for the apex body is a thorough inside out self-cleansing programme to regain its self-respect and mandate

The sound of falling apples being confused with engine trouble and panicky reaction of aborting take-off at an alarmingly late stage; landing a jetliner on its nose gear—one suffering blown undercarriage tyres; the other miraculously escaping a nose wheel collapse—what exactly is happening on the Indian civil aviation scene? That there must have been a protecting hand of the Almighty in the above cases can hardly be doubted, as contrary to the wildest dreams of their designers, both aircraft survived the unwarranted punishment meted out by their callous/undertrained commanders and the passengers coming out of the ordeal largely unhurt.

Licensing system

The fake pilot licence scam has hit the civil society and the media in India with the force of a dreadful tsunami not dissimilar—though on a different plane—from the one that recently hit the shores of north-east Japan. Still reminiscent of the Flight Cadet days, I am reminded of a plethora of flight safety slogans displayed all over the base one of which read, “Flying is inherently safe but most unforgiving of errors caused by violations of rules and regulations.” Proper training both on the ground and in the air are hallmarks of making safe and competent pilots. In India, flying training for civilian pilots is carried out in a mix of state-run/sponsored flying academies/clubs and privately run flying training institutions. But the onus of granting civil licences rests solely with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The DGCA not only carries out a thorough scrutiny of flying training but also conducts a set of stringent written tests covering different subjects connected with aviation such as aerodynamics, navigation, meteorology and aircraft knowledge for sought typeendorsement, etc, before awarding the appropriate licence to the concerned applicants—the difficulty level of the question papers increasing proportionately with the type of flying licence applied for; starting from private pilot licence (PPL), commercial pilot licence (CPL), SCPL (private, commercial, senior commercial pilot licence), highest being the ultimate Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL), which is required as basic qualification for the airlines’ commanders or pilots.

well-oiled racket

The recent boom in India’s civil aviation has thrown open many high-end career opportunities in this sector like never before. Lucrative emoluments coupled with perks, a suave lifestyle and a sense of adventure attracts many young men and women to take up this profession. But are all aspirants up to mark to stand up to the rigours of training? Secondly, flying training is only one side of the coin to get the coveted flying licences; sound knowledge of ground subjects with testing fully controlled by the DGCA, being the other. While it is conceded that some dubious institutions both abroad and in India may have fudged a few flying hours in the past to cut costs and earn higher profits, the latest scam involving two IndiGo, one MDLR and one Air India commander converges on fudged marksheets which enabled them to procure their respective ATPLs. Their arrests indicate that a well-oiled ‘racket’ is at work within DGCA that helps copilots, who have failed to clear exams to become commanders. But does this come as a surprise?

Corrupt Practices AT DGCA

DGCA has long been suspected of indulging in corrupt practices such as charging sizeable amounts for handing over even the genuine licences to the first timers in the past. The lure of the lucre has pushed unscrupulous personnel within the organisation to climb another step on the ladder of corruption for greater financial considerations.