’Fake’ pilot files vanish from DGCA

Police say action cannot be taken unless documents are recovered

'Fake' pilot files vanish from DGCA

Police say action cannot be taken unless documents are recovered

The fake pilot scam seems to be going the Commonwealth Games scandal way at least when it comes to the safety of the records related to the investigation. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has reported to the Delhi police that files related to some of the pilots have gone missing after it had ordered a scrutiny of licences of all the pilots in the country. "The DGCA has reported that files of two pilots are missing from its office," said DCP, (Crime Branch), Ashok Chand, who is heading the investigation.

Sources said in one case, marksheet of one of the pilots has also gone missing from the DGCA office. "A marksheet of one of the pilots, Gaurav Jain, is also missing and Crime Branch has refused to take any action against him until they are not given this document," said a source in DGCA.u00a0 Jain, a native of Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh,u00a0 has been on the run after a complaint against him was given to Crime Branch by DGCA on April 1.

The DGCA officials could not be reached for comments on the missing files. "We cannot take action against Gaurav only on basis of a complaint. The marksheet, which is believed to be fake, is required to book him in criminal case," said a Crime Branch official on condition of anonymity.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has forwarded the names of three more pilots who are believed to have procured the Commercial Pilot Licences (CPL) with the help of forged marksheets to the police. "We have received three more names from DGCA regarding the use of fake marksheets to get CPL. We are investigating themu00a0 though some pilots are absconding," said Ashok Chand, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime).

The police had on April five arrested two DGCA staffers for allegedly helping some pilots obtain licences using forged documents, taking the total number of arrests in the scam to 13. Five pilots and three DGCA staffers have so far been arrested by Delhi Police while two others have been apprehended by Rajasthan Police in Jaipur in connection with the racket. Three touts have also been arrested by Delhi Police.

The Goa case
The DGCA will send notices to four airlines for violating its directive of not to operate flights to Goa during certain hours when ground navigational aids at the airport were not operational, forcing the pilots to make blind landings. The step by the aviation regulator came even as the Indian Commercial Pilot's Association (ICPA) asked all its members not to take flights to Goa till April 30 in the wake of violation of flight safety rules by some air carriers and blind landings at Dambolim airport.

The DGCA had issued a NOTAM (notice to airmen) about a week ago advising all airlines not to operate flights during certain hours in a day when the ground-based radar system PAPI (precision approach path indicator) was switched off for repairs. Official sources said the DGCA will send notices to Kingfisher, GoAir, JetLite and Jet Airways for having operated flights during these hours.

It happened in CWG scam too
When the investigation was launched in CWG scam, the key files which contained important information on tendering, budgetary allocation and contract details were found missing from the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) office. The wrongdoings were exposed when CBI officials raided OC headquarters last year.