PAKISTAN GROUNDS 262 PILOTS.

Pakistan is grounding 262 airline pilots suspected of dodging their exams following an inquiry into pilots’ qualifications, the aviation minister said Friday. The inquiry was prompted by the preliminary report on an airliner crash in Karachi last month, which found the pilots failed to follow standard procedures and disregarded alarms. Ninety-seven people were killed in that crash and the state airline in question, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), said on Thursday it would ground pilots with “dubious” licences. Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said authorities had for years been probing collusion between pilots and civil aviation officials to get around examinations. He said all the pilots were accused of having someone else write one or more papers for them.