63 RP aviation schools to be probed for issuing fake pilot licenses

Sixty-three aviation schools across the Philippines will be probed and audited after the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) discovered that some of their graduates hold fake pilot licenses, an aviation official said on Tuesday. Captain Raul Trinidad said on Tuesday that the CAAP has found out that several graduates of these schools possess fake licenses, based on “scrutiny" of licenses and documents the aviation body has been conducting for the past three weeks “As we went through the documents, we noticed that some licenses were fake and illegally obtained. That is why we are conducting an audit of these schools," he told GMANews.TV in an interview. Trinidad, however, would not divulge the source of these fake licenses and the names of the aviation schools pending probe by the CAAP, in coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). The aviation official likewise said that some graduates even managed to take eight licensure examinations in a day, which in reality should be administered in three to four days. These “fake" pilots may have paid $30,000 to $40,000 to obtain their licenses without undergoing actual training and examination, he added. Trinidad likewise warned graduates possessing fake licenses to stop flying aircraft, saying it is “risky and illegal." “These people should stop playing around with these fake licenses. They should realize that we are determined to bring back integrity to aviation in the country," he said. Trinidad also urged new pilots and graduates to go directly to the CAAP to verify the authenticity of their licenses. - with Andreo C. Calonzo, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV