Ever since Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), flight PK-8303 crashed into a residential neighborhood in Karachi. There has strung a great debate on who is actually to blame.
As per the initial reports, it was said to be a ‘human error’ by the pilot and air traffic control. Since then, PIA has grounded 150 of its 434 pilots, saying that they have “dubious licenses.”
Aviation minister, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, announced that ‘40% of the pilots in the country have fake qualifications or cheated in their exams.’
Pakistan suffers global embarrassment
As a result, the international media has had a field day, and the world was shocked. Many raised questions over the safety as Pakistani pilots are currently working for international airlines.
World is shocked at Pakistan and raising question over safety of its airlines.. Did Minsiter make Pakistan a laughing stock in the world by claiming one in three of our commercial pilots do not have lisence to fly?? pic.twitter.com/O4uoV3nd71
— Waseem Abbasi (@Wabbasi007) June 25, 2020
Vietnam grounds Pakistani pilots
Since the controversial declaration by aviation minister, many international airlines grounded Pakistani pilots over ‘fake license’ concerns. According to Reuters, Vietnam has grounded 27 Pakistani Pilots.
Vietnam grounds Pakistani pilots over licence concerns.
Vietnam licensed 27 Pakistani pilots: 12 active, and 15 contracts expired/inactive.
11 working for Vietjet, 1 for Jetstar Pacific
Vietnam Airlines & Bamboo Airways weren't using any Pakistani pilotshttps://t.co/JpM3c51ZWG— Gibran Peshimam (@gibranp) June 29, 2020
Similarly, it was reported Kuwait Airways had also grounded Pakistani pilots. However, this was later rebutted by the airline.
It said, “Kuwaiti Airlines would like to clarify what was circulated on some social media about the company terminating the services of its pilots of Pakistani nationality. Due to their fake licenses that this speech is not true. Kuwaiti Airlines does not have any pilot of Pakistani nationality currently and there is only -1”.
تود الخطوط الجوية الكويتية التوضيح بشأن ما تم تداوله في بعض وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي عن قيام الشركة بإنهاء خدمات طياريها من الجنسية الباكستانية بسبب رخصهم المزيفة بأن هذا الكلام غير صحيح حيث لايوجد لدى الخطوط الجوية الكويتية أي طيار من الجنسية الباكستانية حالياً ويوجد فقط
-١— Kuwait Airways (@KuwaitAirways) June 28, 2020
Qatar Airways has also compiled lists of Pakistani pilots, engineers, and ground-handling staff. It said the employees whose names are on the lists would remain grounded till a report is received from Pakistan.
PIA plane crash
The investigation report on the PIA plane crash was presented in the National Assembly. It said the pilots were not focused and their lack of concentration had caused the crash. The pilot was also accused of being overconfident.
The horrific crash broke our hearts as the PIA commercial plane crashed in Karachi on May 22, 2020.
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