mumbai though instances of pilots submitting fake documents to get a licence has been an open secret in the countrys aviation industry the racket remained undetected for years one of the prime reasons was manpower shortage at the office of the directorate general of civil aviation dgcaover 400 technical posts have been lying vacant in the dgca for over two years now said an aviation source the dgcas flying training directorate for instance which overlooks besides other things commercial pilot licence cpl training in flying clubs across the country has only one official who is a senior pilot the pilot came on deputation from the ministry of agriculture last year the dgca appointed a consultant to the post of director of flight training said a dgca official it is not possible for one official to keep track of all log book entries and flight training activities done in india chief flight instructors cfis were bold to make fake log book entries as they knew they would not get caughtthe manpower shortage issue was such a serious concern that the international civil aviation organisation icao hauled up the dgca during an air safety audit in 2009 in response the dgca accelerated the process of recruiting officials though many appointments were ad hoc fortyeight positions were filled on short term contract in early 2010 another 180 posts are being filled but many of these are important posts and should be filled only with permanent postings so that the official concerned can be held accountable for irregularities the official said when someone who earns rs 34 lakh a month in the private sector takes up a dgca post for rs 4000050000 one cannot really expect him or her to do justice to the temporary yearlong government appointmentmisuse of licence private pilot licence ppl used in other flight categories accused pilots over 65 aircraft charter companies recruited the pilots modus operandi pilots over 65 years can only hold a ppl which does not allow a pilot to fly an aircraft for hire or reward it permits hobby flying but not employment as pilot because of a shortage of pilots many charter companies and private aircraft owners recruited pilots over 65 years as consultants but made them fly aircraft illegally exposure the dgca received a complaint from an air safety expert action crackdown has begun on companies that recruited such pilots passenger perspective cases involve charter and private aircraft a ppl holder does not undergo rigorous medical tests like an atpl or cpl holder pairing a ppl holder with a novice copilot is a recipe for disaster