Fake marksheets: Air India pilot arrested in the capital

New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI) An Air India pilot has been
arrested in the capital for allegedly using forged marksheets
to procure a licence, the second pilot to be nabbed in the
last four days, as a worried DGCA set in motion fresh scrutiny
of licenses of nearly 4,000 pilots.
Close on the heels of arrest of a suspended Indigo
woman pilot, Delhi police apprehended Captain J K Verma here
late Saturday night following investigations into a complaint
filed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
which claimed that some of the pilots had faked marksheets to
get their licence.
"We have arrested Verma. Investigations are on. We
have been provided more names by the DGCA. The scanner is on
two more pilots Meenakshi Sehgal of Indigo and Swaran Singh
Talwar of MDLR (Airlines)," a senior police official said.
Verma is in his 40s.
In the wake of the fake pilot scare, licenses of 3,000
to 4,000 pilots are being scrutinised by the DGCA, according
to Civil Aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi.
Verma allegedly forged marksheets of Pilot License
Examination for obtaining the licence.
The official said Sehgal, a resident of North Delhi,
and Talwar, a resident of Jaipur, were absconding.
Delhi Police's Crime Branch had on March 8 arrested
Parminder Kaur Gulati (38), a suspended pilot of Indigo, for
allegedly obtainign the mandatory Airlines Transport Pilot
License (ALTP) using forged documents.
"Commercial pilot licenses are being scrutinised
following this incident," Zaidi said following her arrest.
With ATPL, one can become a co-pilot and to get a full
fledged commercial pilot licence one should have ATPL with
adequate flying hours. Gulati was grounded on January 11
following an incident of hard landing of an Indigo flight in
Goa.
During initial enquiry by DGCA, it was found that she
had allegedly submitted forged result card of Pilot License
Examination of January 2009 for obtaining ALTP. On the basis
of the complaint, a case was registered.
"It emerged that the result card of Pilot License
Examination submitted by Gulati as proof of passing Air
Navigation and Radio Aids and Instruments subjects in January
2009 session for obtaining ALTP license was forged," the
police official said.
Actually, he said, she had failed in Air Navigation
and was absent in the other paper of Radio Aids and
Instruments.
She again appeared for the above subjects in April
2009 session and July 2009 session but on the both the
occasions, she could not clear the papers.
In order to obtain ATPL, a pilot has to clear three
subjects -- Aviation Meterology, Air Navigation and Radio Aids
& Instruments.
Gulati had cleared Aviation Meterology in April 2008
but inspite of repeated attempts, she could not clear Air
Navigation and Radio Aids & Instruments.
"She submitted forged result card of passing Air
Navigation and Radio Aids & Instruments to DGCA in November
2009 and she was issued ATPL License," he said.
DGCA Director General E K Bharat Bhushan said the
issue of pilots submitting bogus marksheets have come to
notice "by chance" following probe into a faulty landing by a
woman pilot.
"I think on that we decided to take a look at our
records and detected it. So we started a check and we have
taken out close to 500 and are in the process of checking it
now. We are checking the licences issued over the last year,"
he said.
He said he did not want to create a scare on the
issue.