Pakistan’s national airline is taking heavy flak after it emerged that nearly a third of its pilots were holding fake or dubious licences, with some observers wondering if the struggling national carrier can survive the scandal.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) this week said it would immediately ground 141 of its 434 pilots after a government review found them to have obtained “bogus” credentials or cheated on exams by having someone else take them.
The scandal comes in the wake of a crash in Karachi last month that killed 98 people — and which authorities have essentially blamed on the two pilots.
Investigators said the aviators were chatting about the coronavirus while they attempted to land the Airbus A320 without putting its wheels down, catastrophically damaging the engines.
