The International Civil Aviation Organization on Friday asked senior Pakistani journalist Talat Hussain to delete a piece of fake news about the ICAO that he had shared on his Twitter account yesterday. ICAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations to ensure safety in international air transport.
In the now deleted tweet, Hussain had slammed Prime Minister Imran Khan for the ongoing flying ban imposed on Pakistani pilots by the international community after Ghulam Sarwar, a government minister, had commented on the floor of National Assembly that many Pakistani pilots possess fake licenses.
The issues came forth following the crash of Pakistan International Airlines Flight PK8303 carrying 99 passengers on May 22 this year. In the crash that happened in Karachi, most of the passengers and crew had been killed. The crash was blamed on errors by pilots.
Yesterday, Hussain had shared unverified reports posted by a Twitter user attributed to ICAO that claimed that the body had advised Pakistan to not to issue any new pilot licenses. But ICAO said that they have not issued any statements like this.
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The organization asked the journalist to contact their media relations department for the accurate information. It went on to add that the Twitter user who had earlier tweeted the unverified information had also removed the tweet.
“Dear Mr. @TalatHussain12, as you will have noticed, @raisinganchor has retracted this counter-factual tweet, and now for the sake of clarity we would like to ask you do the same. Our media relations service is always happy to answer any queries you may have,” wrote ICAO on Twitter.
International Civil Aviation Organisation clarifies its stand on Pilot Licencing scandal. It did not ASK Pakistan to suspend issuing licences. It RECOMMENDED suspension of licence issuance and “immediate corrective measures”. https://t.co/xygu3W3SFT
— Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) September 26, 2020
Now, the senior journalist shared the verified news on his Twitter account on Saturday. In the latest tweet, he said, “International Civil Aviation Organisation clarifies its stand on Pilot Licencing scandal. It did not ASK Pakistan to suspend issuing licences. It RECOMMENDED suspension of licence issuance and “immediate corrective measures.”