FIR lodged against aviation academy in-charge

MUMBAI: An FIR has been filed against an aviation academy in-charge for allegedly clearing 25 students without conducting mandatory flying tests, police said on Wednesday.
    
Capt Ashim Taxali, in-charge of Academy of Carvar Aviation near Baramati, gave clearance to at least 25 students who had learnt flying outside India by charging an average of Rs three lakh from them for the certificate without even conducting the tests, police said.
    
Academy Chairman Mark Carvalho lodged an FIR with the police station on October 27 naming Taxali and the 25 students as accused under different provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Aircraft Act of 1934, after an internal inquiry.
    
All of the 25 students who are trained abroad are Indian nationals but they require certificate of a local Chief Flying Instructor to start flying planes in India, they said.
    
"They use this certificate to apply for a commercial pilot's license from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation," Assistant Police Inspector K T Pingle, of Baramati Taluka police station in Pune district, said.
    
"Taxali, around 35 years of age, is a native of Delhi and joined the company in September last year. We are on the look out for him and have also informed the DGCA officials about the case," Pingle said.
    
The certificate given by the CFI also requires a note from Air Traffic Control officials confirming that the candidate flew an aeroplane for a particular time span.