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The rot in the civil aviation industry runs deeper than was thought earlier. As investigations proceed into the fake pilot scam, it is fast becoming clear that the issue isn’t limited to a handful of pilots. An elaborate nexus exists between pilots, touts, flying schools and officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The recent arrest of DGCA officer Pradeep Kumar lends credence to this nexus. Kumar was instrumental in processing the applications of pilots who had forged the result cards of their qualifying exam. It has also been discovered that flying schools themselves were on the take, fudging logbooks to escalate the number of flying hours of pilots. As the DGCA scrutinises 4,500 airline pilot licences, it is anybody’s guess how many unqualified pilots continue to fly commercial aircraft.
Opening up the aviation sector made air travel an affordable reality for the Indian middle class. However, oversight of this sector is poor. Each day the safety of thousands of passengers hangs in the balance. If sons and daughters of DGCA officials are able to obtain licences despite dubious flying records, it opens the door to large-scale fraud. Apart from an internal purge of the DGCA itself, it is imperative to undertake a thorough audit of the 40 flying schools in the country. A public DGCA database for result cards of candidates is a good idea. That corruption hasn’t even spared a sensitive industry like aviation, jeopardising the lives of thousands, is a grave concern. Now that the rot lies exposed, civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi must undertake thorough and rapid action to cleanse the system and bring back credibility to civil aviation.
(Source: The Times of India, dated 29-3-2011)
