DGCA says fake pilots an aberration

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bharath Bhushan, on Saturday termed the fake flying licences, which led to the removal of an assistant director at his office, an aberration confined to few cases. Bhushan said he would reform the system to avoid any recurrence of such instances and there was no reason to panic as air travel was completely safe in India.

The DGCA would monitor the conduct of pilot training schools much more closely, he said on the sidelines of an aviation security meet here. He said certificates issued by foreign pilot training institutes would also be independently verified from now on. DGCA is meeting all pilot training schools on Tuesday.

Of the 1,700 pilot licences verified by it, the DGCA found seven cases of fake qualifications in mark sheets and flight hours. These cases have been handed over to the crime branch of respective state police, according to him.

He claimed the officer in question was of a very lower level and he had been moved from the licensing wing last month itself, based on inputs on his involvement.

Earlier, addressing the valedictory session of the two-day summit, Bhushan said the competition in the aviation sector was set to increase in the days ahead, as the sector had again started looking up from last year, attracting more players into the industry.

He said the domestic air travel market in India crossed the 50-million passenger mark last year, registering 19 per cent growth for the first time.