Vietnam suspends Pakistani pilots around suspect licences | Vietnam Information

Islamabad, Pakistan – Vietnam’s civil aviation authority has grounded all Pakistani pilots flying for Vietnamese airlines, as global aviation regulators answer to revelations by Pakistani authorities final week that much more than 250 pilots had been granted licences fraudulently.

Pakistan’s aviation minister stated past 7 days that 262 of the country’s 860 active pilots had obtained their qualifications fraudulently by having a person else acquire their examinations, administered by the Pakistani civil aviation regulator.

On Monday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) issued a assertion saying it had instructed all domestic airlines to quickly suspend pilots granted licences by Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA).

“Vietnamese airways [have been] requested [to] temporarily suspend flight schedules for the higher than pilots until even more discover,” explained the statement.

There are presently 27 Pakistani pilots registered to fly for Vietnamese airlines, 12 of whom are lively, the CAAV mentioned.

Eleven of individuals pilots fly for Vietjet Air, and just one for Jetstar Pacific. A more 15 pilots are registered but no lengthier hold contracts with Vietnamese airlines.

A majority of the suspended 262 Pakistani pilots flew for the country’s state-owned Pakistan Global Airways (PIA), which mentioned its functions would be “crippled” by the move.

Vietnamese authorities said they would coordinate with Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority to confirm and overview the 27 pilots’ qualifications.

A Vietjet Air Airbus A320 lands at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam [File: EPA]

Pilots’ body disputes report

Adhering to the revelations by Pakistani Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan in parliament last 7 days, the Intercontinental Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a multilateral UN overall body that coordinates among aviation regulators, said nations would have to consider the basic safety threats introduced.

“Any global implications of this growth will be subject to every single country’s particular person assessment of the protection hazards it offers,” said a statement emailed to Al Jazeera. “Countries are sovereign in this sort of issues.”

The Pakistan Air Line Pilots Association (PALPA), a entire body that signifies pilots across Pakistan, has disputed some of the conclusions of the aviation ministry’s inquiry, professing that the listing of 262 pilots incorporates some who experienced not fully commited fraud.

A authorities investigation into the authenticity of the pilots’ licences carries on, pending which all pilots have been suspended from flying for Pakistani domestic airlines.

The original inquiry was spurred by an investigation into an airliner incident in November 2018, when a PIA-operated Embraer ATR-72 plane skidded off the runway in the southwestern city of Panjgur. No 1 was hurt in the incident, but a subsequent inquiry discovered the pilot’s licence had been issued on a community holiday.

Additional investigations led to 17 Pakistani pilots being suspended in January 2019, suspected of committing fraud.

On June 25, the aviation minister discovered that a extended investigation experienced observed that nearly a 3rd of all pilots certified by the country’s civil aviation authority experienced acquired their documents fraudulently, primarily by utilizing another person else to sit for their exams.

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeera’s digital correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim