Pakistan airline says 150 pilots grounded after crash probe

PIA had launched an operation to bust groups who would issue fake licenses. It is in process to remove more than 100 pilots.

Pakistan’s state-run airline announced Thursday it would ground 150 pilots on charges they obtained their pilot licenses by having others take exams for them.

Army soldier stands guard a truck loaded with the wreckage of the crashed Pakistan International Airlines' PK8303 plane, after it was retrieved from the roof of a house at the crash site, in Karachi. (REUTERS)

Abdullah Hafeez, a spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines, said the decision comes after a probe into last month’s PIA crash that killed 97 people in the city of Karachi.

Hafeez, without sharing specific details, said a process to remove the 150 pilots who possessed tainted licenses had been initiated.

“We will make it sure that unqualified pilots never fly aircraft again,” he told The Associated Press.

The move by PIA to ground the pilots comes a day after the country’s aviation minister, Ghulam Sarqar Khan, said 262 out of 860 pilots in the country had “fake” licenses. He made the revelation while presenting preliminary findings to parliament of a probe into the May 22 Airbus A320 aircraft crash in Karachi.