Pilots Are Receiving Licenses in India After Only 35 Minutes of Flight Time

A mere 35 minutes of flying time could put you, or almost anyone, at the helm of an Indian aircraft.

Bloomberg reported Tuesday that India is issuing licenses to pilot’s with as little as 35 minutes of airtime. The news agency cited Anupam Verma, who has a certificate that states he logged 360 flying hours. But Verma said he received the license after sitting in the co-pilot’s seat for just 35 minutes.

“What if I was flying and had an emergency? I wouldn’t even know how or where to land,” Verma, 25, said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We’d kill not only the passengers, but we might crash in a village and kill even more people.”

Bloomberg said dozens of pilots in India obtained certificates showing inflated flying hours and ground training, citing court documents and interviews with pilots, regulators and industry analysts.

Over the past decade, concern has risen about the quality of India’s pilots as budget airlines proliferated and created demand for hundreds of new pilots. In 2011, the Indian government reviewed the licenses of 4,000-plus airline pilots in the country, as police investigated at least 18 people suspected of using forged documents to win promotions or certification, Bloomberg said. The findings of the review were not made public.

Bloomberg reported that India’s Director General of Civil Aviation M. Sathiyavathy, said on April 24 the directorate plans to conduct a new audit that would require the “recertification of all the flying schools.”

[Photo: iStock]