Is flying safe with fake Pilot Licence

24/11/2010
Fake flights and fake flying hours in pilot licence scam
Jaipur: The Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday arrested an assistant general manager of the Jaipur Air Traffic Control (ATC) and the chief flying instructor (CFI) of the Rajasthan State Flying School in connection with a commercial pilot licence scam.
The duo, in collusion with other officials, allegedly accepted money to fudge records of flying hours for at least 14 students, thus helping them obtain commercial pilot licences in a fraudulent manner. According to the rules, students must log at least 200 flying hours to get a licence.
The accused have been identified as CFI Mahendra Kumar and AGM Manoj Jain. "Kumar would log fake hours and Jain at the ATC would countersign, though the plane was never in the air," said ACB Additional Director General of Police Ajit Singh. He added that Kumar charged students extra money for faking flying hours, over and above the official fee of Rs 4.7 lakh.
Last month, the ACB arrested an Indian Airlines pilot, Rahul Yadav, in connection with the same case. According to Singh, Yadav had logged only around 20 hours of flying time, while his flight logs showed the required 200 hours.
"Though records show that Yadav completed a cross-country flight from Jaipur to Hissar as part of his training, we have evidence to show that the plane he reportedly used was undergoing maintenance at the time," said Singh. Incidentally, Yadav's father is a senior official with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
ACB officials said that from 2004-2008, the duo had logged fake flying hours for at least 14 students, including another Indian Airlines technician, Rakesh Mehta, and Pallavi Sherje, who is at present an assistant flying instructor in Nagpur.
Incidentally, according to sources, Kumar was vying for the post of pilot of the state aircraft that ferries Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
Bhupendra Yadav, the ACB investigation officer, said M S Beniwal, the CFI at Hissar Aviation Club, was also wanted in the case but was absconding. "We have a warrant for his arrest, but he has managed to evade the police. Kumar would log a cross-country flight from Jaipur to Hissar and back, as part of the training, and Beniwal would countersign," said Yadav.
Fake flights and fake flying hours in pilot licence scam

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IAF flying MIG Coffins?

A LETTER TO THE EDITOR THE TIMES OF INDIA
To: The Editor The Times of India New Delhi
Sir,
In, and the other of a jet fighter in a foreign country. The heading (page 11) given to the MiG crash pathetically announces: "FLYING COFFINS?". You have been frequently using this ominous description for the MiG aircraft of the IAF. However, the heading (page 21) given to the report on crash of the jet fighter in the foreign country majestically declares: "SPECTACULAR NOSEDIVE"!
What a sublime contrast in presenting two similar events in TOI under your stewardship! The heading used for the IAF MiG jet crash is neither humour nor a clever turn of the phrase nor indeed anything even remotely expressing sympathy or support for the Armed Forces personnel. What is it, then?

A friend here calls it a "cold, calculated affront--highly disgraceful on the part of the reporter who has filed this story and the supervisory(?) staff that has let it pass through." He further adds, somewhat poetically: "It is akin to 'jis thaali mein khaanaa usi mein shaid karnaa ' i.e. 'to p(r)ick holes in the very plate that feeds you."

Three cheers for The Times of India! What rich returns are "Freedom of the Press" bestowed on TOI getting for the readers, security forces and the countrymen! What all we must have done to deserve you, Sir? And, who are your bosses/ masters/ paymasters? We may have to take up with them sometimes.

Meanwhile, please desist from using this "FLYING COFFINS?" nomenclature for Indian Air Force planes in future. You also owe an apology immediately to the Armed Forces for the gross disrespect shown and indignity heaped on the Air Warriors of IAF and the weapons used by them for the defence of the country and its people including you and me.
Warm regards,
Sincerely,
Wing Commander SC Kapoor (retd)
Member Indian Ex Servicemen Movement

Is India too careless about its aviation safety?

By Ashish Saraf, India Syndicate, 24/05/2010
The recent Air India Express flight crash in Mangalore that killed 158 people has raised serious questions about India's performance on its aviation safety front.
The apparent cause of the accident appears to be pilot's error, but safety experts are sceptical about other factors as well, such as poor training, infrequent inspection and the difficult location of the airport. Critics say the Bajpe airport in Mangalore is one of trickiest airstrips in India and should not have been built in such a dicey spot that does not give any scope for the minutest of errors.
A 2006 audit report by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) says India has been violating hundreds of safety norms, and has scored worst in "technical personnel qualification and training." While the civil aviation ministry has claimed that the Mangalore runway complies fully with international norms, local environmental groups have cited ICAO documents to affirm that the runway does not adhere to international standards of airport design.

The ICAO protocol specifies there should be a minimum width of 150 metres on either side of the central line of the runway. But Mangalore runway is only 200 metres wide in total. In the tabletop topography where Mangalore airport is nestled, there was no space to construct a 300-metre-wide runway. The bottom line is - the runway is neither long nor wide enough to make up for any landing error.
Is India too careless about its aviation safety?
Reasons
Could corruption and sycophancy be a major factor which reduces air safety in India to a joke?

Mangalore Air Crash Tragic Fallout of Criminal Negligence of Planning and Regulatory Authorities

Press Release : 22 May 2010
Mangalore Air Crash Tragic Fallout of Criminal Negligence of Planning and Regulatory Authorities by Leo F. Saldanha
Environment Support Group
An Air India Express Boeing 737-800 aircraft arriving from Dubai with 167 on board 2010 tragically crashed at Mangalore International Airport at 6.30 am today (22 May 2010). It is reported that the plane overshot the runway while landing and fell over a cliff resulting in this disastrous crash. Very few are known to have survived this horrific crash.
This was no accident, but the direct result of deliberate failure of officials at the highest level in the Director General of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Government of Karnataka for allowing this 2nd runway to be built in criminal negligence of applicable norms and standards. Such a strong charge is being made as the likelihood of this kind of a crash (the worst case scenario) was predicted. A series of Public Interest Litigations were fought by the undersigned to stop the construction of this 2nd runway in Mangalore airport on grounds that the design simply did not conform to the most basic national and international standards of airport design. The PILs also highlighted that the airport does not conform with the most minimum safeguards for emergency situations – particularly during landings and takeoffs, and could not have emergency approach roads within a kilometre on all sides of the airport as required.

No one in authority cared to listen to our fervent pleas. This even when we demonstrated through a variety of representations that that the site chosen for expansion at Bajpe was surrounded by deep valleys on three sides of the runway and did not provide for emergency landing areas as required.

This neglect of our legitimate concerns forced us to move the High Court of Karnataka in a PIL in 1997 (Arthur Pereira and ors. vs. Union of India and ors., WP No. 37681/1997). A key concern raised was that the 2nd runway in Mangalore could not meet the standards required in dealing with an emergency, particularly during landings and takeoffs – a time when air crashes are most likely to happen.

The Airports Authority of India filed an affidavit in Court dismissing all our concerns and stated this, amongst other things:
"It is submitted that as regards the apprehensions of the petitioner that the Length and width of the runway is insufficient for a plane making an emergency landing, the same is without any basis. It is respectfully submitted that all the requirements as per the ICAO recommendation will be met and that there has been no infringement of any of the recommendation and limitation therein." (Copy of this affidavit dated 14 October 1998 is accessible here.)
1 That such a crash has occurred at the Mangalore airport is unpardonable as a similar crash had occurred at this airport over a decade ago. Fortunately the plane did not tip over into the valley and all passengers, including Union Law Minister Mr. Veerappa Moily, were fortunate to escape..
2 This safety standard of ICAO also applies to air crafts when landing. It is truly sad that today's tragic air crash could be a consequence of the lack of conformance with this standard.
For further details, contact:
Environment, Social Justice and Governance Initiatives, Environment Support Group - Trust, 1572, 36th Cross, Banashankari II Stage Bangalore 560070
Tel: 91-80-26713559-61 Voice/Fax: 91-80-26713316 Email: leo@esgindia.org Web: www.esgindia.org
Read the full text of Press Release
Press release: Mangalore Air Crash