At least 20 foreign pilots working for Indian airlines have been sent back to the former Soviet bloc because of fears that their poor English posed a safety threat in India’s increasingly congested skies.

The move follows a series of near-misses blamed on poor communication between air traffic controllers, who use English, and foreign pilots jostling for position to land at overloaded Indian airports.

It also highlights the shortage of Indian pilots in an industry that has more than tripled in size since 2003 as the air-plane ousts the train as the preferred form of transport for India’s middle class. “There have been cases where pilots have been sent back as their English proficiency was not up to the mark,” Kanu Gohain, Director General of Civil Aviation, said.

“Around 20-25 have been sent back, mainly from CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) nations and Eastern Europe.” He did not say which airlines the pilots worked for, but experts said that language problems had been an issue in the past four years.

India’s domestic civil aviation industry has grown from just three airlines in 2003 to 10 today, with three more budget carriers awaiting licences.

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