Pak airline grounds a third of pilots over ‘fake licenses’

Pakistan International Airlines yesterday said it had grounded almost a third of its pilots for holding fake or dubious licences, a month after one of its planes crashed into houses killing 98 people. The move comes after the government released a preliminary report into the May 22 crash in Karachi. Investigators largely blamed the two pilots, who ignored flight protocols and had been discussing the coronavirus outbreak when they first attempted to land the Airbus A320.  Details of the government probe were made public Wednesday when Pakistan's aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told parliament the review found more than 260 of the country's 860 active pilots had fake licenses or had cheated on exams. PIA, Pakistan's flag carrier, currently has a fleet of 31 planes and employs around 14,500 staff.

Source: Reuters