DGCA plans to revamp exam to select pilots
A few more “suspicious” cases of pilots suspected to have fraudulently acquired licences by submitting fake marksheets are being investigated by the DGCA and action is expected very soon, even as the DGCA is planning to scrap the entire system of physical submission of pilot exam marksheets to its licensing office and will rely on
computerised databases instead, top government aviation sources have told this newspaper. Online pilot exams will also be introduced as an option by the DGCA by this summer.
Already, four pilots have had their licences revoked by the DGCA for fraudulently acquiring licenses but the bad news for flyers is that there may be more. “A few more cases are being probed. More licences might be revoked,” sources confirmed. But the DGCA and the Delhi police which are working in tandem on the probe are likely to swoop down on the suspects — once there is firm evidence of fraud — so that the suspects do not get a chance to flee or abscond.
Currently, applicants for a pilot licence have to submit their marksheets from the DGCA’s marksheet office to the licensing office. In view of the recent cases of pilots found to have submitted fake marksheets, the physical submission of marksheets may be scrapped.
In the wake of complaints received, the DGCA is also planning a massive crackdown on those flying schools which are allegedly showing fake records of flying hours. The state-run Airports Authority of India has already accorded sanction to the Rajasthan police for prosecution of a jailed air traffic controller who is facing charges of conniving with a flying club by allegedly signing fraudulent log-books showing flights of students when no flying had been conducted.
The civil aviation ministry is establishing a committee to tighten rules for pilot exams and issue of licences and plug loopholes in the system.
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