HCMC – The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has suspended 27 Pakistani pilots flying for Vietnamese carriers to check their licenses’ authenticity, following the Pakistani aviation authority’s investigation revealing that over 250 Pakistani pilots have fake licenses.
The suspended pilots’ licenses were granted by the Pakistani aviation authority. CAAV is waiting for the final conclusion over the issue from the Pakistani authority to take further steps, said CAAV head Dinh Viet Thang.
Aside from these Pakistani pilots, there are no foreign pilots in Vietnam having their licenses issued by the Pakistani authority, the official confirmed.
To date, thousands of foreign pilots are flying for local airlines such as flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific, Vasco, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways, according Tuoi Tre newspaper.
In 2011, South Korea’s aviation authority informed CAAV of a case in which Kim Tae Hun, a South Korean pilot that was working at Vietnam Airlines, was suspected to have used a fake license to fly an Airbus A320. The suspension came after he made a failed landing attempt at a Busan airport in South Korea.
On noticing the problematic landing, the Vietnamese captain immediately took over control of the plane from Kim Tae Hun.
Following a probe into his suspected fake license, CAAV confirmed that Kim Tae Hun had used the fake license and other relevant documents issued by the Indonesian aviation authority to fly Airbus A320 aircraft.
After his fake license was detected, Kim Tae Hun quit his job at Vietnam Airlines in August 2011 before CAAV completed the probe into his case.
