MMore than 250 pilots are banned from flying around 97 people in Pakistan around a month after the plane crash in Karachi. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) initially banned a third of its pilots from flying. According to the state airline, 150 of its 434 pilots hold dubious licenses, as PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan told the German press agency on Thursday.
Pakistani Aviation Minister Ghulam named Sarwar on Friday laut „Daily Times“ new numbers. A total of 262 pilots were prohibited from flying, he said at a press conference in Islamabad. The ban affected 141 PIA pilots, nine from Airblue and ten from Serene Air. The rest of the pilots belonged to flight clubs or flew charter planes.
According to the PIA, the pilots are accused of cheating during tests. So other pilots are said to have taken the tests. The airline and the country’s civil aviation authority (CAA) announced an investigation and review of the licenses. Investigators would also investigate whether the licenses were acquired through bribery.
The decision was made after presenting a preliminary investigation report on the accident. The report had identified serious mistakes made by pilots and air traffic controllers as the reason for the crash. According to an analysis of the voice recorders, the pilots discussed the entire flight over Corona. Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said Wednesday that the pilots were concerned and unconcentrated because of infected family members. The report excluded a technical defect.
Flight 8303 crashed into a residential area on May 22 on the way from Lahore shortly before landing in the port city of Karachi. Previously, the Airbus A320 touched down on the runway during a first landing attempt without landing gear, and the engines were damaged. 97 inmates died, two passengers survived the accident.
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