Licence to fly: Pilots faked flying records

One pilot flew only half the hours required to be certified. Another signed off on his own Airline Transport Pilot Licence—the highest level of aviation certification. A third falsified flight records, while a fourth became a "check pilot" for an aircraft he had never flown.

The paper trail shows that the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has long been aware of all this, yet all four individuals still retain their pilot licences.

One of them is currently a pilot with Biman Bangladesh Airlines, while another is employed as a check pilot at Sky Capital Airlines. A third was previously employed at US Bangla Airlines and the employment status of the other individual is unclear, according to documents and sources. 

The findings by an internal inquiry by CAAB's safety department raise concerns about aviation safety and may invite scrutiny by international aviation watchdogs such as ICAO or the Federal Aviation Administration, aviation experts say.

Less than half qualified

On March 19, 2023, Abdur Rahman Akand, a graduate of the Bangladesh Air Force Academy, got the Airline Transport Pilot Licence, the most advanced pilot certification.

CAAB documents show that he had 26 hours and 5 minutes of flying as a pilot-in-command unsupervised, and logged 128 hours and 30 minutes of flying as a pilot-in-command under supervision.

According to aviation rules,a person must log 250 flying hours, of which 70 hours have to be unsupervised, while the rest of the hours can be flown under supervision. If the candidate has not logged 70 hours of unsupervised flying, they would need to fly 500 hours as a pilot-in-command under supervision.

But before being certified as an ATPL, Akand flew only 154.35 hours – less than a third required for such a sophisticated licence, according to the documents he submitted to CAAB as part of the regulator's internal inquiry.

The Daily Star has seen the documents.

Talking to this newspaper, Akand said his flying hours are in accordance with the law and claimed that pilots from the Air Force are entitled to certain exemptions.

When The Daily Star shared the flight records, he said that this was a partial picture, but refused to furnish any records to prove his claim.

To compare, The Daily Star also obtained the flight logs of one of his batchmates who had flown the same aircrafts as him, and later became a civil pilot. There is nothing in his batchmate's flight log called "pilot-in-command under supervision".

Before Akand was certified as an Airline Transport Pilot, he left the Air Force in 2009 under Section 20 of the Air Force Act, his records show.

Under section 20, titled "Dismissal, removal or reduction by Commander of Air Staff or other officers," the Chief of Air Staff, or any officer empowered on his behalf can dismiss, or remove a person from the service, or demote him.

CAAB Chairman Air Vice Marshal Md Manjur Kabir Bhuiyan, who took office in August 2024, declined to comment on whether a pilot could get an ATPL with 26.5 hours of flying as pilot-in-command.

Instead, he commented on his Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL), saying, "Captain Rahman had requisite P1 [main pilot] hours for CPL." According to the rules, even a CPL needs at least 70 hours as pilot-in-command, whereas Akand had less than half that.

NO EXPERIENCE!

Captain Kabir-ul-Alam was allowed to perform an exam flight to be certified as a "Designated Check Pilot" for an aircraft called Fokker-50, a CAAB letter from November 5, 2023, shows.

A Designated Check Pilot (DCP) is a flight examiner approved by CAAB to perform regulatory duties, acting as a CAAB delegate.

However, Kabir never flew on a Fokker-50; he was a type-rated pilot of an earlier version of the aircraft called F-27, the letter reads.

Under both ICAO and CAAB rules, for nomination as a check pilot, the candidate must have 750 hours of flying experience as pilot-in-command of the particular plane.

His records show he had only completed 14 sessions of flight simulator training of a Fokker-50.

A flight simulator is a device that replicates an aircraft's cockpit, featuring computer-generated visuals that simulate the pilot's perspective and the aircraft's movements. This is not a real flying experience.

Before taking on this assignment as a "check pilot" he was a check instructor in DC10 aircraft. DC10 is a completely different aircraft, and is not even from the same maker. DC10 is by American maker McDonnell Douglas, while F27 is by Dutch maker Fokker.

The CAAB inquiry shows that Kabir was granted the waiver after his employer, Sky Capital Airlines, sent a letter to CAAB in August 2023, stating they urgently needed an in-house check pilot. The airline explained that they were reliant on a flight examiner who was a foreign national and only available once a year, creating the urgency. They further noted that approving the pilot as an examiner for Fokker-50 aircraft "would rescue us from this dire situation".

The Daily Star called Kabir over two phone numbers and sent him messages on WhatsApp, which were delivered. He did not respond.

CAAB Chairman Air Vice Marshal Md Manjur Kabir Bhuiyan said there have been no violations here.

"This type of aircraft [Fokker-50] is comparatively rare. Very few simulator facilities are there in the world. The number of instructors is also limited. The Bangladeshi company [Sky Capital Airlines] needed to expend more foreign currency to hire a foreign instructor. Capt Kabir had huge experience in other large aircraft as a captain and instructor. He has more than 2,000 hrs in this aircraft. He qualified for the required training in the simulator also," he said in a written response.

According to Kabir's recommendation letter sent from his employer Sky Capital to CAAB on August 9, 2023, Kabir did not have 2,000 hours on a Fokker-50.

False flying records

In April 2022, a surveillance team from CAAB found that US-Bangla pilot Captain Nuruddin Al Masood had falsified his flight hour records and forged his logbook certification.

On May 9, 2022, CAAB wrote to him stating that the "findings from your logbook are enforceable offences" and demanded an explanation.

Pilots' logbooks contain detailed records of their flight experience, including the dates, durations, types of flights, aircraft flown, and the specific roles the pilot performed (e.g., pilot-in-command, co-pilot). It tracks the total flying hours, including solo flights, cross-country flights, and night flying hours.

Masood claimed that the mistake was inadvertent, so CAAB gave him seven days to submit his corrected logbook, documents show.

He did not do so till June 10, 2023, using different excuses, including claiming that he was unable to locate them.

When CAAB finally reviewed his logbooks, they concluded that he had falsified his flight hours, with the recorded flying hours several hundred more than the actual hours flown.

One of the instances of falsification shows that he logged 762hours as a pilot in the right-hand seat of a DHC-2 aircraft by de Havilland Canada. For large planes, the pilot in command sits on the left, while the one on the right assists.

However, DHC-2 is a small aircraft operated by only one pilot – the one on the left.

"DHC-2 is a single-pilot operation aircraft," the CAAB investigation report reads.

In another instance, CAAB's investigation found that Masood had logged 346 hours in a flight school in the Philippines, between March 27, 2001 and October 18, 2001. However, he was not even allowed to fly in the Philippines after April 30, 2001, and yet he recorded flying hours until October that year, documents show.

"Masood did not fly 346 hours in the Philippines. The certificate sent is fake," concluded CAAB.

In 2024, the Civil Aviation Authorities of Philippines (CAAP) also wrote to CAAB, confirming that he faked his records. In response to a CAAB letter, the CAAP said it did not find certain flying hours in his records. "Considering the records the CAAP has in its database, it can be concluded that there were several inconsistencies in the records of Capt. Masood and the total flight time."  

Masood still retains his licence.

Speaking to The Daily Star, he said he has filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging the CAAB findings and hence he would not speak about a sub judice matter.

Despite the court challenge, Capt Masood cannot use the privileges of his licence at the moment, CAAB chairman told The Daily Star.

Conflict of interest

The Daily Star previously reported in 2018 on how Chowdhury Md Zia Ul Kabir, then a director of flight safety and regulations at CAAB, had received financial assistance from US-Bangla Airlines Ltd to take part in a "type rating" training on Boeing 737 in Indonesia the previous year. The report noted that such training costs between $26,000-$30,000. CAAB itself proposed that US-Bangla sponsor Zia's type-rating training, a specialised certification process for pilots.

Now, a closer look at Zia's licence shows that he signed his own Airline Transport Pilot's Licence.

The licence, seen by The Daily Star, was issued on February 4, 2018, and was stamped and approved with his own seal that reads "Wg Cdr Chy M Ziaul Kabir Director (FS&R)".

When Zia signed his own licence, he was the flight safety regulator charged with ensuring that pilot licences were compliant, exposing a blatant conflict of interest.

The Daily Star called Zia on his phone and sent him messages on WhatsApp which were delivered, but he did not respond.

Contacted, Air Vice Marshal Md Manjur Kabir Bhuiyan said that the then CAAB chairman had approved Zia's licence.

"The approving authority of the licence is the Chairman of  CAAB. But the director of flight standards and regulations has to sign the licence after approval," said Manjur Kabir, the current CAAB chairman.

Commenting on the overall aviation safety, he said, "There has not been any violation that would constitute "unsafe flying". CAAB is taking all-out measures for compliance with ICAO standards as always."