Podcast

Many airline pilots have fake credentials

Updated: 2010-09-07 11:52

Civil aviation officials have found that more than 200 pilots falsified their flying histories, with more than half of them working for the parent company of an airline involved in China's worst plane crash in several years, a report said Monday, citing a source with the civil aviation administration.

The results of investigations showed that in 2008-2009, airlines desperate for staff were hiring pilots whose resumes had been faked, the Shanghai-based newspaper China Business News reported on Monday.

The newspaper report also noted that Shenzhen Airlines reportedly had 103 of the pilots with faked work histories on the payroll.

A spokesperson with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) confirmed the figure of more than 200 pilots who falsified their flying histories, adding that all those found with fake resumes have been punished accordingly.

The report comes as the administration investigates safety measures nationwide following an Aug 24 crash that killed 42 people at a small airport in the northeast, in China's worst commercial airline disaster in nearly six years. Another 54 people were injured in the crash of the Brazilian-made Embraer 190 plane belonging to Henan Airlines during a nighttime landing at Yichun in Heilongjiang province.

Shenzhen Airlines is the parent company of Henan Airlines.

Though the causes of the air crash have not been released, the CAAC has launched an overall safety overhaul, including checks on the qualifications of pilots.

"The civil aviation administration should have stopped those who falsified their flying histories. If not, they are also to be blamed for their relaxed inner controls and lack of supervision over the airlines," said Liu Weimin, aviation expert with the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China.

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（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

Many airline pilots have fake credentials

About the broadcaster:

Many airline pilots have fake credentials

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.