PIA to ground 5 pilots with 'dubious licences'.

RAWALPINDI -- The management of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has decided to ground its 5 pilots.

Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan disclosed in the National Assembly on Wednesday that a large number of commercial pilots possessed 'dubious licences'.

PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez told Dawn that 'about 5 pilots are being grounded.'

He said the management has now written to the Civil Aviation Authority to urgently provide the list of other licences found to be dubious and all of them will be indefinitely grounded pending inquiries against them.

'Those found at fault will be terminated from service after following a due process,' he said.

Probe into ATR pilot's credentials began after plane skidded off Panjgur runway in 28

The spokesman acknowledged the findings of the preliminary investigation report shared with the parliament by the aviation minister on the plane crash of May 22 which claimed 97 lives and reaffirmed PIA's resolve for further improving safety standards within the company using the findings of the report as guiding principles.

He said that the investigations into dubious licences issued by the aviation regulator were highlighted by the PIA itself in the aftermath of the incident occurred in Panjgur in November 28 where an ATR skidded off the runway, using the same hot and high approach and then making some elementary level mistakes.

That incident prompted an inquiry into the pilot's credentials which were found to be dubious. The same was reported to the regulator and the PIA requested the government to constitute a highlevel inquiry into the matter which the aviation minister ordered immediately.

A thorough forensic audit was conducted into the licences of all the pilots obtained...