ISLAMABAD: A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) report on Friday revealed that at least five pilots of the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) did not even hold a matriculation certificate.
According to details, a case pertaining to fake degrees of PIA pilots was heard by a Supreme Court bench under the stewardship of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Main Saqib Nisar at the Lahore registry of the apex court.
During the course of proceedings, a report was submitted by the CAA to the court, wherein it was highlighted that degrees of seven pilots were found to be bogus, while five pilots had not even passed their matriculation examinations.
Appalled by the CAA’s report, the top judge said that people’s lives were put at stake.
“A person with a qualification less than matric is not even authorised to drive a bus, but planes are being flown by them here,” Justice Ijaz Ahsan remarked.
The representative of PIA informed the bench that the administration of the national flag carrier had so far sacked 50 pilots who failed to provide their academic records.
The court then ordered the authorities concerned to complete the process of degree verification and submit a final report in this regard.
PIA was allowed to appoint pilots on a contractual basis, however, the court sought from it complete details of its pilots’ licenses.
