Submitting forged documents pertaining to basic educational qualifications or marks sheet are not the only malpractices in the process of acquiring flying licences by fraudulent means. The bigger and the more serious problem is the quality and authenticity of civil flying training in India and somewhat surprisingly in some flying training institutions abroad as well.

On January 11 this year, a bungled landing at Goa by an IndiGo Airlines pilot set off a chain of events which for the Indian civil aviation industry was akin to the tsunami that devastated parts of Japan in March 2011. The pilot in question, a Commander on an Airbus A320 aircraft, was taken into custody after preliminary investigation into the accident revealed that she had obtained an Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) on the basis of documents that were not genuine.

Flying Licence

Issued by the Training & Licensing Department of the Delhibased Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), a basic flying licence is called the commercial pilot licence (CPL). It is only issued to an individual who possesses the requisite educational qualifications; has undergone ground training as per the prescribed syllabus and has successfully completed the stipulated number of flying hours as well as the licence-related examinations conducted by the DGCA. The candidate has also to be certified medically fit by a competent authority. It is mandatory that the ground and flying training syllabi be completed at a DGCA-certified training establishment. Those who obtain a CPL abroad are required to pass an examination conducted by the DGCA before the foreign licence is converted to its Indian equivalent.

On account of the sudden and huge spurt in demand for pilots since the boom in civil aviation that began by the end of 2003, till date, thousands of young boys and girls trained in certified institutions in India or abroad have obtained their CPLs hoping to cash in on the avalanche of lucrative employment opportunities as First Officer (also referred to as Co-Pilot or Second Pilot) in the Indian airline industry. Several First Officers serving with the airlines, who have met with the requirement of stipulated flying hours and having passed all other examinations, have successfully upgraded to the next level, to that of Commander, also referred to as Captain or First Pilot. For a First Officer to upgrade to the status of Commander, it is necessary to clear a written examination as well as flying tests to be eligible for the grant of ATPL. This is believed to be a major hurdle and the First Officers aspiring to be Commanders, are generally able to do so only after several attempts. A First Officer clearing this hurdle in the first attempt is indeed an extremely rare feat. Repeated attempts involve their being away from active airline duty which consequently leads to monetary loss. There is, therefore, powerful motivation for these aspirants to meet all stipulated requirements and pass the examinations both written and flying, by any means, fair or foul.

Widespread Fraud

A quick survey carried out in the wake of the incident pertaining to the faulty landing technique cited above, indicated the possibility of there being other cases wherein fraudulent means could have been employed to obtain flying licence. Concerned with the implications of this pernicious practice on air safety, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has ordered a review of pilot licences issued by the DGCA. It is understood that around 10,000 holders of CPL and 4,000 ATPL are likely to be under the scanner. Simultaneously, audit of the 40 civil flying training institutions in the country has also been ordered by the MoCA.

The phenomena is not unique to Indian civil aviation as around the time of the discovery of the malaise in India, a 41-year old Swedish pilot flying for Turkey’s Corendon Airlines was arrested at Amsterdam as he was about to operate a flight to Turkey with over 100 passengers onboard. As per the Dutch police, in spite of having 10,000 hours of flying logged over 13 years, the individual was in possession of an expired licence, that too with the endorsement to fly only small aircraft and not heavy jets such as airliners.

Civil Flying Training

Submitting forged documents pertaining to basic educational qualifications or marks sheet are not the only malpractices in the process of acquiring flying licences by fraudulent means. The bigger and the more serious problem is the quality and authenticity of civil flying training in India and somewhat surprisingly in some flying training institutions abroad as well. Usually equipped with the minimum number of aircraft required under the rules for start up, a large number of private flying training schools have mushroomed in the country with the sole aim of exploiting the situation created by the rising demand for pilots. These schools are usually inadequately staffed as experienced, qualified and competent flying and ground instructors were and continue to be in short supply. All that the private flying training institutions could do was to somehow assemble the numbers stipulated by the DGCA for headcount during inspections. As a result, quality of training has been the biggest casualty. Incidentally, afflicted by shortages of qualified manpower and dismally low emoluments for the staff, the government-run flying training establishments have been in no better state. The state government-owned Rajasthan Flying Club in Jaipur, where a number of cases of acquisition of flying licences by fraudulent means have been discovered and several arrests already made, typifies the infirmity that afflicts the flying training institutions in India. The only exception perhaps is the Central Government owned Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Academy (IGRUA) at Rai Bareilly in UP, which is now under the management of CAE, Canada. This institution has generally been headed by a retired senior officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) with proven credentials and staffed by a high percentage of instructors with background of military aviation both for flying and ground training. Hopefully, the second Central Government-owned institution similar to IGRUA, the National Flying Training Institute at Gondia in Maharashtra will follow in its footsteps and maintain respectable standards.