Making of the unskilled pilot by rogue schools

Unskilled pilots — products of rogue flying schools both in India and abroad — flying our planes, which should worry us.
A WICKED face of corruption has surfaced with a question aimed at the ordinary: what is the value of your life? No, it is not the threat to life we generally associate with crime.

This time, it is the unskilled pilots — products of rogue flying schools both in India and abroad — flying our planes, which should worry us.
Aviation experts revealed the modus operandi behind the making of such pilots. The aviation boom had lured many fly- by- night operators to come into being and conduct flying courses along with offering guaranteed airlines jobs. Everything illegal was churned out to ‘ train’ pilots, who were eager to join airlines at any cost, the experts said.
“ This include logging more number of flying hours as compared to actual flying, undertaking training without the presence of certified instructors and helping the candidate to pass the examination and getting a licence by bribing regulatory ( DGCA) officials,” an aviation expert said.
There was a requirement of around 2,000 pilots, way back in the 2006- 08. Aspiring pilots did not want to miss their chance.
They rushed to every available flying school in India and abroad to complete their training, so that they could get into the cockpit at the earliest.
A gold rush of rival airline companies to grab any ‘ talent’ available — co- pilots were offered around ` 2 lakh a month — resulted in a massive influx of foreign pilots, many of whom lacked proper training.
Among the 40 DGCA- certified flying training schools in India, 33 are operating at the present and many of them are known for their doubtful credentials.
The flying schools at Baramati and Jaipur were under the DGCA scanner for alleged forging of flying hours to expedite the training process. However, absence of a proper punishment system made no difference for such institutions.
A large chunk of aspiring pilots in the past years had opted to fly abroad. Countries such as the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia lured aspiring pilots to migrate for their training because of shortage of seats in India. They even flew to the Philippines where many incidents of malpractice has been reported.
Among 1,700 commercial pilot’s licence ( CPL) issued last year, 1,200 were conversions from foreign licences. In the last few years, there was an over production of trained pilots and today over 3,500 of them are still unemployed. Many of them could have passed from corrupt unregistered schools.
The revival of the aviation sector has absorbed a meagre 500 pilots as most of the foreign pilots have been sent back home because of the recent unrest among Indian pilots. Analysts blame the DGCA for the mess.
“ There are many such pilots flying our planes, putting our lives at great risks,” an experienced commander said.
Only a sincere probe can unmask them.
The airlines might be responsible for such corruption, nevertheless, the buck stops at the DGCA — the custodian of Indian aviation.