After fake pilots, now fake flying school

Updated on: Friday, July 08, 2011

After fake pilots, brace yourself for fake pilot training institutes. The first of its kind case was detected in Palam Extension, Dwarka, last week. An institute promising pilot training and issuance of licences at the earliest – on the basis of its self-claimed links in the aviation regulatory agency – for Rs 18-20 lakh was busted when Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Bharat Bhushan received a complaint from a victim last week and investigated the matter. Not very fluent in Hindi, Bhushan asked one of his officers to call up the institute and pose as an aspiring pilot from a speaker-phone in front of him.

“The person running the institute did not open up initially and asked how did we got to know about him. When told that we were referred to by some DGCA officials, the person opened up and started talking freely. He asked us to download the form from the website and assured us of 100% placement. He asked us to come to his office on any working day between 09:00 am and 05:00 pm to know about the payment schedule,” said sources. When asked about any basic requirement for becoming a pilot, the caller was told he should be fluent in English. The institute, whose name was not disclosed as that may affect the probe, claimed to have branches all over India.

Bhushan referred the matter to the police, resulting in a raid on the institute’s Dwarka office last Saturday. A person running the place was arrested, said sources. When contacted, Bhushan said, “I got a complaint and investigated that. The complaint was found to be correct and referred to the police.” DGCA is now probing the institute. “It may have been a front for some insiders and we are examining this aspect. We are also trying to find out how many students they helped with their dubious methods,” said sources.

In the past few months, the aviation ministry has cracked the whip on black sheep in the DGCA. Officers whose children have been working in airline without government nod were transferred and one senior person even divested of all charge. Last month, an official was suspended for allegedly helping his wife run a company that supplied trainer planes and their parts to aircraft maintenance engineering schools.

After fake pilots, now fake flying school

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