Havalian plane crash: probe claims pilots had bogus licences

An inquiry report on the Havalian plane crash submitted to the Supreme Court on Monday alleged the pilots had bogus licences.

Forty-seven people, including singer-turned-preacher Junaid Jamshed, deputy commissioner of Chitral and three foreigners died in a PIA plane crashed on December 7, 2016.

The inquiry pointed out the licences of both the pilots, Saleh Janjua (43) and Akram (40), were ‘dubious’. There was another pilot but he was a trainee.

The issue of bogus licenscs of PIA pilots came to the spotlight last year, grounding 262 pilots for having suspicious licences. In February 2021, authorities placed the names of 45 pilots on the stop-list over bogus licences.

It was recorded that the crew issued a mayday call before the crash of their ATR plane. A trainee pilot and two air hostesses also died in the incident.

The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) in its initial report declared the plane’s left engine malfunctioned at an altitude of 13,375 feet.