KARACHI: Following the release of an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) audit following a scandal over false certificates, Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) plans to resume licencing pilots in February, according to a PCAA official.
In September 2020, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) advised Pakistan to take immediate corrective action and suspend the issuance of any new pilot licences after false licences were discovered following the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane in May of that year, which killed 97 people.
A nine-member ICAO team spent ten days in Pakistan conducting an audit, which ended on Friday.
“We are hopeful that licencing will restart following the release of the ICAO audit report in February,” Khaqan Murtaza, the PCAA’s director general, told reporters on Monday.
Pakistan’s aviation industry was soiled by the pilot licence controversy, and the country’s flag carrier, PIA, was forbidden from flying to Europe and the United States.
Following qualification checks, Pakistan suspended 262 airline pilots accused of cheating on their tests in June of last year.
The action was prompted by a preliminary report on an airliner crash in Karachi last year, which found that the pilots had ignored alarms and failed to follow standard procedures.
“At the moment, they have cleared us, but a final report is pending.” “The report should be ready by mid-February,” Murtaza said.
Airworthiness, flying standards, personal licence and examination, air navigation services, aerodromes, and aircraft accidents were all part of the audit.
The ICAO delegation paid a visit to Pakistan’s aviation complex, as well as PIA and other airlines’ offices.
