After European Union (EU) barred Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) earlier this month, following the discovery that more than half of the carriers pilot were operating with fake license. The United States have taken the same step of restricting PIA from operating their charter flights to the States.
The United States Department of Transportation on Friday, July 10 (local time) announced that it has revoked the permission for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to fly its charter flights to the United States.
The US Department of Transportation cited the concerns of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over Pakistani pilot certifications for its decision to ban the PIA flights to the US.
In June 2020, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) revealed that 262 out of 860 active Pakistani pilots had not sat the pilot exams themselves. In total, 40% of pilots, including inactive ones, held “fake” licenses.
PIA immediately grounded 150 of its 426 pilots. Shortly after, the European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) suspended the country’s flag carrier, from operating to and from the European Union. The ban came into force on July 1, 2020, for a period of six months. In Vietnam, 27 Pakistani pilots (11 with Vietjet Air and 1 with Jetstar Pacific) were grounded by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, pending further investigation.
The discovery of fake license, grounding of pilots and restriction ban came after a PIA flight crashed into houses in Karachi, killing all 97 people aboard and achild on ground, in May 22, 2020. Investigators blamed two pilots, who were chatting about the coronavirus while they first attempted to land the Airbus A320 without putting its wheels down.
Additional information from aerotime.aero/english.jagran.com