Suspended SpiceJet pilot resigns

SpiceJet suspended a woman pilot in connection with the fake flying license scam after she came under DGCA scanner in the wake of an evaluation report that she had trouble during flight training in the US.

Twenty-four-year-old Garima Passi, who was grounded by the budget air carrier for acquiring pilot licence using fake documents, resigned from her job on Thursday, a SpiceJet statement said.

"Passi had been suspended from flying while we awaited the full investigations to be concluded. This morning she has resigned from her job," the statement said.

Passi was suspended from her job from March 16 this year. SpiceJet early this week sacked two pilots--Captain Anuj Kumar and First Officer Amit Mundra--after they were arrested by Rajasthan police for using illegal means to procure flying licenses.

Passi was removed from her flight training from a US-based flying school after an evaluation report brought to light her making hard landing and causing damage to an aircraft and apparent fear of flying, sources said.

After returning from the US, she joined Uttarakhand-based aviation school and she got her Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) within five days of submitting her application to the DGCA in May 2008.

Sources said that Passi allegedly procured a CPL through fraudulent means. After receiving the licence, she joined SpiceJet and started flying as a co-pilot of Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Sources said she did not disclose her hard landing incident to the DGCA which makes it mandatory for a student applying for a CPL disclose whether the aspirant was involved in an aircraft accident or incident in the preceding five years with a detailed disciplinary action taken against them.