Chennai: Using the thrill of flying to making the money vanish into thin air might seem like a magic act, a cheap con or a Ponzi trick. But that is what the Madras Flying Club (MFC) Ltd., which boasts of a heritage tag, has succeded in doing for a little over 20 years in silently accepting money from aspirants despite having forfeited its approval. It has reportedly accepted about Rs 4 crores towards providing commercial pilot licenses (CPL) from students since 1995.
The students’ dreams have crashed as none was able to receive the licence or get a refund of fees. The worst part is many in the MFC don’t have passes (issued by AAI) to enter the airport and hence the question of providing hands-on training, which is a requisite for adding to flying hours to obtain a commercial pilot’s licence, has become very remote.
The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) revoked the approval in March this year. But despite this, students were admitted and hefty sums obtained from them. Students have been enrolled since about 1995 and over the years about 485 students had paid fees totalling Rs. 4 crores, to obtain the CPL. It is said the amount they had paid was not reflected in the bank account and they could neither undergo training nor get back the money.
As no balance sheet was filed by the company for nearly a decade, apparently construing that the club has become ‘dormant’, the state government withdrew the fuel subsidy of Rs 7.2 lakh per annum given to the club, four years ago. The Social Welfare Ministry funds for scholarship of Rs. 14 lakhs (out of Rs. 17 lakh) were allegedly misappropriated. As a result, the ministry was said to have stopped extending scholarship aid.
“Not filing balance sheet for 10 years, mismanagement and misappropriation of scholarship aid that took place over the years in the past, has had a cascading effect,” Mr R. Rajkumar, IOSA auditor and ISO 2015 lead auditor told this correspondent on Sunday. “I noticed fake balance sheets for 10 years. There has been some goof-up,” R. Rajkumar, who himself has been a victim as an aspiring pilot and who is now secretary and CO, MFC, says. He had paid '3 lakhs in 1995 for CPL but never got it.
He went on to say, “In December 2013, I saw restless students standing outside classrooms and enquired. They replied that they were not provided with entry passes to undergo training as a pilot,” Rajkumar explained.
“No one has got an entry pass. Overnight we would have lost the MFC but for the efforts of former Chief Flying Instructor Capt. Shankar V Mudaliar and myself. It is just a wall that separates the road and the MFC within the airport here. They would have easily taken possession of the space. We took the initiative to retain the heritage flying club.”
On Feb.18, the MFC wrote to the AAI highlighting that the non-issuance of airport entry passes was endangering the existence of the flying club. It sought the issuance of entry passes and also permission to operate from the Vellore or Puducherry airport.
“We want the club to be up and running and are taking steps in that direction. As a company, we are chasing the governing members to get the TIN no. and file the balance sheet. Nearly 90 % of the governing members are in Air India. They made a career out of the MFC and also a career for their children, but are reluctant to give back to the club,” expresses Capt. Shankar V Mudaliar.
The flying club, which is a limited company, has not paid salaries to nearly 18 of its employees and Capt. Shankar is no exception, not received his salary for the last eight months. Salaries for employees alone account for Rs 1 crore per year.
