ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national airline has written to foreign missions and global regulatory and safety bodies, assuring them it has grounded all 141 pilots suspected of obtaining licenses through unfair means, the carrier’s spokesman said on Saturday.
The move looks to assuage safety concerns after Pakistan’s Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said on Friday the government had asked various commercial airlines, flying clubs and charter companies to ground a total of 262 pilots until investigations into their qualifications are completed.
The action was prompted by a preliminary report on the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft in Karachi last month, which found pilots had failed to follow standard procedures.
Global safety and transport bodies expressed concern about the alleged “dubious” licenses and said they were looking into the matter. PIA flies a number of international routes, including to the United States, Britain and Europe.
“It is also ensured that all pilots flying PIA flights are having genuine licenses endorsed by the government of Pakistan,” said a copy of the letter sent to the US Embassy in Islamabad seen by Reuters.
The letter, signed by PIA Chief Executive Arshad Malik, also promised the airline would remain compliant with all international aviation safety and regulatory standards.
PIA’s spokesman said the letter had been sent to all heads of foreign missions in Pakistan as well as international aviation regulators and safety monitoring agencies.
Aviation Minister Khan had said the move to ground the pilots would help allay global concerns and show wrongdoing had been corrected. He added that five officials of the aviation authority were also suspended for abetting the suspected pilots.
The Pakistani pilots’ union did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
In a joint statement, The International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations and the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations called for the crash probe to be conducted on international standards, urging against “premature conclusions” based on incomplete or speculative information.
PIA moves to assuage concern on 'dubious' pilot licences
https://arab.news/2uqcf
PIA moves to assuage concern on 'dubious' pilot licences
- PIA sends letter to foreign missions, international aviation regulators to clarify its position
- Says 141 pilots suspected of obtaining licenses through unfair means have been grounded
Pakistan’s defense minister backs army spokesman’s criticism of Imran Khan
- Khawaja Asif calls the military’s response to Khan’s recent remarks ‘measured’
- He accuses Khan’s PTI party of ‘changing its identity’ by siding against Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday defended a scathing news conference by the military’s spokesman a day earlier, in which the latter accused former prime minister Imran Khan of promoting an anti-state narrative that he said had become a national security threat.
Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who heads the military’s media wing as director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), addressed journalists on Friday in response to Khan’s latest social media post accusing Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir of being responsible for “the complete collapse of the constitution and rule of law in Pakistan.”
During the briefing, Chaudhry described the incarcerated former premier as a “narcissist” and a “mentally ill individual,” though he said it up to the government to determine how it wanted to deal with him.
Asked about the military’s viewpoint against Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Asif told reporters in the city of Sialkot the former premier had long used harsh language against state institutions and political opponents.
“When this kind of language is used for individuals as well as for institutions, then a reaction is a natural outcome,” he said. “The same thing is happening on the Twitter accounts being run in his [Khan’s] name. If the DG ISPR has given any reaction to it, then I believe it was a very measured reaction.”
The minister said Khan and PTI leaders had continued to target the army despite the sacrifices made by soldiers in the fight against militancy and during the four-day conflict with India in May.
He said PTI should recognize those sacrifices by supporting “our soldiers and martyrs” rather than “the terrorists.”
“Imran Khan speaks on every issue. Why did he not speak [in favor of the military] during the war [with India]?” Asif said. “Even during the war he kept targeting the military leadership. He continued to use inappropriate language for them.”
“People whose conduct is like this, whose language does not spare even the martyrs, how can they say ... that the DG ISPR should not say this or should not say that?” he continued. “He absolutely should.”
Asif added that Khan and his party had “changed their identity,” adding they were no longer standing with Pakistan.
PTI has not officially responded to his comments yet.
