India’s oldest flying school grounded
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A flying school which counts the father of Indian aviation, JRD Tata, as its alumnus is about to be shuttered by the country’s aviation regulator.The Bombay Flying Club, that granted JRD Tata a pilot’s licence in 1929 and is India’s oldest flying school, has been caught for over-logging flight hours of students as part of the crackdown by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on the widely prevalent practice. “We are planning to close the Bombay Flying Club until they match standards and will issue them a notice for various discrepancies in the way they train pilots,” DGCA chief EK Bharat Bhushan told Economic Times.Reports of unqualified pilots have added to worries over India’s rickety air safety record. Earlier this year, the DGCA cancelled licences of 14 pilots, the report said. The police had charged the 14 pilots with faking documents. According to Bhushan, two or three more schools could be issued similar notices but refused to identify them. The regulator had examined 40 schools and found violations of standard operating procedures and over-logging of flying hours, among other discrepancies, in five.
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