Dozens Said To Have Been Granted Flying Privileges Using Inflated Training Documentation

India is reportedly granting pilot certificates to people with less than an hour's training, according to court documents and interviews conducted pilots, regulators, and others.

Bloomberg Business reports that in one case, Anupam Verma, the son of a poor farmer, was given a subsidy by the Indian government worth the equivalent of $44,000 to learn to fly commercial jets. He said he has a certificate showing he has 360 hours of training, but it was issued after he had sat in the co-pilot's seat for about 35 minutes.

In 2011, India conducted a review of all of its airline pilots, numbering more than 4,000, after at least 18 people were investigated on suspicion of using forged documents to obtain certifications or promotions. That review was not made public.

One former commercial pilot said that "fudging log books is rampant in airlines and flying clubs."  Mohan Ranganathan said that hours were logged for aircraft that were not airworthy. One that had no engines was used to show hundreds of flight hours by pilots.

In December of last year, an Indian court found that one flight school, Yash Air, which has since changed its name to Centaur Aviation Academy, issued certificates to students who had not completed ground school or flight training. M. Sathiyavathy, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that the school's approval was was suspended, and has not been reinstated.

The DGCA said in April that it would be conducting a new audit and require "recertification of all flying schools."

FMI: http://dgca.nic.in/