The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has announced to temporarily suspend all Pakistani pilots over fake licenses fears.
Chester Voo – CEO CAAM, has stated that the decision has been made to temporarily suspend all Pakistani pilots working in Malaysia, citing safety concerns over the issue of dubious credentials.
“After an evaluation of all foreign pilots employed in Malaysia and in the interest of the safety and security of Malaysia’s civil aviation, CAAM is temporarily suspending Pakistani licence holders who are currently employed by local operators,” he said.
According to sources the number of Pakistani pilots employed in Malaysia is less than 20, and the country’s national carrier Malaysia Airlines along with Malindo Air, the Malaysian arm of Indonesia’s Lion Air have claimed of not employing any Pakistani pilots.
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Prior to this, Vietnam had also announced to suspend Pakistani pilots working in the country, citing fake licenses issue.
The development comes as Federal Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, citing PK-8303 crash report had revealed that 262 pilots, out of total 860 in the country have fake degrees and licenses.
Aviation regulators around the world have cited grave concerns over the issue. European aviation regulator EASA had earlier announced to suspend flight operations to and from Pakistan for six months, whereas UAE authorities have also reached out to PCAA to verify the authenticity of Pakistani nationals associated to aviation industry in UAE.
