SpiceJet suspends pilot from flying aircraft

New Delhi: SpiceJet Ltd has suspended pilot Garima Passi from flying, a year after it came to light that she had trouble during flight training in the US.
“We have suspended her from flying while full internal inquiry (is) under way,” chief executive officer (CEO) Neil Mills said. “We have not found anything objectionable so far in her case, unlike two other pilots whom we sacked immediately. The full investigation should be out soon.”
The two sacked pilots Anoop Choudhury and Amit Moondra have been arrested as part of a crackdown by the regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA, on licences procured on fraudulent grounds.
Passi went to the Sabena Flight Academy in Arizona in 2008 to get a commercial flying licence. She was expelled after she damaged an aircraft during flight and in another instance hit a plane’s propeller against the runway, Mint reported on 12 August 2010. She displayed a “fear of aircraft”, her evaluation report states.
Passi returned to India and started training in Uttarakhand-based Amber Aviation (India) Pvt. Ltd, from where she got a licence and joined SpiceJet.
DGCA director general Bharat Bhushan said he has communicated his views to SpiceJet on the case. “I have also asked for a report on her from the same US-based academy,” he said.
24/03/11 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Categories: spicejet Mar 2010