Foreign flying schools on govt radar

New Delhi: Several flying schools in Asia may have run into troubled weather with the Indian government planning to withdraw recognition to at least some of them following a spate of accidents and reports of mismanagement.
The government’s move comes even as the craze to become a commercial pilot propels hundreds of Indian youngsters to foreign flying schools despite the fact that over half-a-dozen accidents involving Indian students have been reported in the past couple of years.
Several Indian students have been left in the lurch after one of the most sought-after flying schools in the US shut down late last year after crashes involving Indians. Several Indian pilot aspirants have also changed their flight path after at least two Indians from a training school in the Philippines died in crashes.
The aviation ministry has received complaints (about foreign flying schools) from a large number of people, a highly placed government official told DNA. A proposal not to recognise certain flying schools in some countries has been prepared, and will be taken up with the higher authorities including the ministries concerned, he said.
Though ministry sources are not willing to comment on the exact nature of the complaints that prompted them to mull action against foreign flying schools, sources say accidents and instances of discrepancies in flight records of trainee pilots are the prime triggers. There are also reports of many foreign flying schools crunching their training period and flying hours, putting a question on the students’ capabilities.
26/06/08 Yogesh Kumar/Daily News & Analysis