Expat
The expat issue is a political as well as a resonable one.Flying an aeroplane and carrying public fare paying passengers should be taken seriously.The STDs are set by the DGCA .If anyone for that matter if is is expat,local,marsian............etc cant pass the checks and achieve a safe flying STD then they should not be at the controls of an aeroplane.period...
Now the facts which has been pointed out if this is correct then DGCA have to look in to this seriously.They have to make sure that flying in the Indian subcontinent is safe.
The FTDL in Indian aviation is an issue to be taken seriously.As you know the mangalore crash was an accident waiting to happen.If you look at the incidents which was happening before which points to a swiss chesse model.
There is no short cuts in aviation .You may get away with it 99 times but oneday you will get stuck and thats the day we see people paying with their lives .this is the case of mangalore accident.
The sooner the Public ,DGCA,Pilots,operators and media can realise these short comings then we can avoid accidents.
This is the time to have a good long hard look at things and move forward by adopting a Zero tolerance on safety,training,licencing etc.
These are the ? ????? you can ask
1 Are the pilots flying in India properly trained.....??? Do they have regular recurrent training,whats involved in the training program ,whats the emphassis on the CRM,ATC communications,medical STDS,
2 what about the flight tests ............who does them any conflict of interest involved,If some one does not make the STD do they given remedial training
Allways remember when we pointing 0ne finger at some one there are four pointing at you.
so see what you have done to make India a better place in aviation......
I can tell you my 2 .5 years in India have been good and i am sure I have passed my experience to many many pilots who infact are flying safe and good safe capts.
All the best