200 Chinese pilots gave fake credentials

BEIJING - Over 200 pilots in China submitted fake records of their flying histories, and they were employed by airlines desperate for staff, the country’s civil aviation authority has said.

Investigations conducted by officials showed that in 2008-2009, Shenzhen Airlines had 103 pilots with faked work histories on the payroll, China Daily reported Tuesday citing China Business News.

A spokesperson with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said pilots who falsified their flying histories have been punished accordingly.

The report comes during an ongoing investigation into safety measures following the Aug 24 plane crash that killed 42 people and injured 54, in one of China’s worst commercial airline disasters.

The Embraer 190 aircraft of Henan Airlines crashed during landing at Yichun in Heilongjiang province.

Shenzhen Airlines is the parent company of Henan Airlines.

“A pilot’s documents to apply for a certificate to pilot commercial planes should be strictly audited by the administration. Random checks should be carried out by the authority to check these pilots,” an official said.

False resumes does not only violate the aviation law, but could also bring danger to the whole aviation industry, threatening the lives of passengers, he said.

A commercial pilot with three years’ flying experience who only revealed his surname as Xu, said the practice of falsifying flying history is no secret among pilots.

“The rapid expansion of China’s civil aviation requires more commercial pilots, and the gap is usually filled up by those who pilot military aircraft but transferred to commercial flights,” he said.