New Delhi:
After two more pilots were arrested on Tuesday for submitting fake documents to get their pilot licenses, the Government today promised firm action over the incident.
Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi ordered an audit of all the forty flying schools in the country.
"There are about 40 flying schools. Now there is an audit of these schools...Blanket order has been given to go ahead into the complaints. There is no leniency to anybody", Ravi told reporters outside Parliament.
"This is a big fraud playing with human lives. There will be no leniency to anybody. We will go very strongly by abiding with the laws. Every angle would be looked into. The issue is very serious," he said.
On the case of the suspended woman pilot getting bail from a court, he said, "Everything would be done step by step. We want the case to be very strong."
The Minister also said the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had discussed the issue with him "more than once" and steps are being taken to address the issue.
Meanwhile, Bharat Bhushan, Director General of Civil Aviation told NDTV that there was no reason for panic. But he also added that the watchdog as well as airlines needed to be more vigilant in checking the credentials of those applying for flying licenses and subsequently hiring pilots.
National carrier Air India also issued a note to NDTV saying it had taken affirmative action against two Air India pilots after finding irregularities in their records.
''Soon after DGCA found some discrepancy in the records of two Air India pilots, the company suspended one and took other off flying. Our CMD, Mr Arvind Jadhav, has also appointed a 3-member committee of Executive Directors to scrutinise the records of pilots of this particular batch and submit their report to the Chief Vigilance Officer for further action. The number of pilots being looked into is around a dozen.''
In the last few weeks, India has been left winded with what seems to be a rapidly-expanding roster of imposter pilots, all of who have been operating flights. Apart from the Spice Jet two pilots who were arrested, thirteen others have been shortlisted for possibly lying about their qualifications. The records of another 4000 pilots are now under scrutiny.
(With PTI inputs)