And you thought we had problems with RA-Aus...

[Spin]

If it weren't so serious I'd have been tempted to place this in aviation laughter!

 

Delhi to investigate 4500 pilot licences

 

• Amanda hodge
   
   
  
• From: The Australian
   
   
  

 

 

 

EVEN the most cavalier passengers knew something was amiss onboard IndiGo airlines' January 11 flight from Goa when it landed with a terrifying, lurching thud - nose wheel first - on the New Delhi tarmac.

 

The flight's captain, Parminder Kaur Gulati, may have been the only one that day to see nothing awry in the unconventional and perilous landing.

 

A subsequent investigation determined she had done it 15 times before. More distressing still was the discovery that Ms Gulati, 38, had failed one of her pilot exams and then forged her results to obtain her licence.

 

"Only a woman could do it,'' read an ensuing headline - one of several predictable joke lines that followed, besmirching women drivers.

 

As it turns out, Parminder Gulati was merely the tip of the iceberg. With a second pilot arrested for licence fraud on the weekend and an alert issued for two more absconders, India's Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi has been forced to launch a national investigation into the validity of more than 4500 Indian pilot licences."I have directed the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) to examine all the licences issued in the past and to establish a procedure for more detailed verification while issuing such licences,'' Mr Ravi told parliament on Tuesday.

 

"I propose to set up an expert committee in the ministry to examine the current examination system, need for introduction of e-technology, new procedures and process and effective system of cross-verification of documents filed by candidates for various licences in DGCA.''

 

In a country where it is not uncommon for parents to present their children with a driver's licence inside their 18th birthday cards, the notion that some pilot licences may have been bought rather than earned should not come as such a surprise.

 

India's airlines have struggled in recent years to recruit enough pilots to keep up with demand for air travel among India's rapidly expanding middle classes.

 

But the revelations have shaken the community at a time when billion-dollar government corruption scams are dominating the national headlines.

 

Adding to the Indian aviation industry's woes - and passenger anxiety - this month is a report revealing 57 pilots were caught drunk on duty in the past two years, but only 10 were dismissed.

 

Mr Ravi said the remaining 47 pilots were either issued warning letters or removed from flying duties for a short period.

 

The Indian Pilots Guild has also called for an end to "nepotism and corruption'', citing the recruitment last year of the son of an Air India commander to its low-cost carrier Air India Express after he failed a compulsory written pilot's test.

 

In January this year, the same man was promoted to Air India's much sought-after Boeing 777 training program.

 

Last May, a plane crash in southern India killed 158 people and an official investigation later blamed it on a "sleepy pilot''.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Read more: http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/delhi-to-investigate-4500-pilot-licences/story-e6frfq80-1226023003381#ixzz1Gsclk1Ce

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Yenn]

Indian airlines are one of the ones to be avoided in my opinion. along with Indonesian, Pakistani and others

 

 

[Gnarly Gnu]

I had an awesome flight on Air India from Singapore to Chennai a few years back.

 

When you board the plane and see scribble, carved initials and graffiti through the interior it indicates fun times ahead. Sure enough, there was a safety announcement but all safety measures were in fact optional as few people bothered with seatbelts or staying seated. In front of me a kid was climbing over the seat top during take off and another guy wandered off to the toilet just before landing, never saw him come back. There was no electronic in-flight entertainment but I didn't need any, it was like a rolling comedy show. A great number of folk were upright the whole time just wandering about. The highlight of the show was when a couple of passengers bumped into each other in the crowded isle then started arguing. it got more serious to the point they started to get physical and were shouting at each other. They went a little quieter when each had their hands around the others necks attempting to throttle the another.... still not a flight attendant in sight. Finally a few passengers intervened and dragged them apart. I was cracking up laughing; no point worrying about the lack of safety, if it's going down I'm going with it regardless.

 

Qantas seems so boring now. Anyway it was funny at the time but not an airline I've chosen to fly with since.

 

I saw a report recently were there was a near accident when the captain went off to the toilet and the co-pilot bumped the controls and couldn't figure out how to right the aircraft. The captain dragged himself back to the cockpit whilst the aircraft was apparently descending at an alarming rate. I'd be checking the co-pilots licence in this case also.

 

But having said that there are some very good airlines in India I wouldn't hesitate to use such as Jet Airways, they aren't all dodgy.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Hey Gnarly, No one pulled out their little fuel stoves and started cooking?

 

Boy did i slip up. I could have used a RAAus certificate and passed it off as a 737 rating by the sound of what has been going on over there.

 

Geeze if you are going to forge your theory ratings you should really make sure you can at least actually fly and land first.

 

catch me if you can!

 

 

[old man emu]

If that is how these "qualified" people fly, you country blokes can just imagine what it's like flying around our major metropolitan airspace where these people are doing their ab initio through to CPL ratings.

 

OME