Aviation official arrested in India license scam

[March 26, 2011]  NEW DELHI (AP) -- A government aviation official and three other people have been arrested in a widening investigation of corruption in awarding flying licenses to airline pilots, police said Saturday.

The four men were arrested Friday in New Delhi for their involvement in a flying school in the western Indian state of Rajasthan that had issued fake certificates of training flights flown by its students.

The four include an airline pilot and an official of India's federal aviation authority, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.

Indian authorities investigating corruption in awarding aviation licenses have arrested four airline pilots with fake certificates in the past two weeks.

On Friday, aviation authorities canceled the licenses of 15 commercial pilots for exaggerating their flying time while training.

Concerned about passenger safety, Indian aviation authorities have ordered officials to check the documents of all Indian and foreign airline pilots working in the country.

Investigators found that students who failed their final examinations or falsified their hours in flight training obtained fake certificates and were awarded aviation licenses.

Since the fraud came to light nearly a month ago, angry opposition lawmakers have accused the government of failing to check corruption in the process of granting pilot licenses. They have demanded that the government crack down on such fraud.

In the last decade, air travel has boomed in India on the back of a growing economy, leading to the rise of a slew of private airlines. This has resulted in a shortage of experienced pilots and airlines have been struggling to hire them to meet the demand.

[Associated Press; By NIRMALA GEORGE]

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