The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has completed its investigations on pilots in the wake of cases of forgery behind securing of licences after more than a year since it started the process.
As many as 17 pilots — 11 Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) holders, six commanders holding Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) — and three officers belonging to DGCA have been arrested.
“We have verified the whole thing and I hope we have caught everyone,” said DGCA chief E.K. Bharat Bhushan.
The scrutiny began after DGCA found out last year that a woman pilot flew a commercial airline on a fake licence and made a series of rough landings.
DGCA tightened the noose on the process of issuing pilot licences and its internal audit revealed the lack of coordination between various departments of the regulatory authority.
“We have found that the section of DGCA that handles examinations has no connection with the department that issues licences.
This is unacceptable,” said Bhushan. DGCA has embarked on an Rs 200 crore e-governance project to integrate the entire organisation and make it paper-free, he said.
“We have prepared a detailed project report (DPR). We are awaiting the ministry’s nod for calling for global tender,” Bhushan told Deccan Chronicle.