Scores of China pilots not qualified to fly

Scores of Chinese airline pilots faked their qualifications, the country's aviation body has admitted.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said 192 pilots had jobs for which they did not have the necessary experience.

It said it had "severely dealt with the situation" when it was discovered in 2008.

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"China's regulations do not tolerate any acts of fraud and any discovery of such problems in the future will be dealt with severely," it said.

A report earlier this week in the China Business News said that 103 of the pilots were employed by Shenzhen Airlines, the parent company of the carrier involved in an August 24 crash, which killed 42 people and injured 54.

Another 54 people were injured in the incident, China's worst commercial airline disaster in six years, when the the Brazilian-made Embraer 190 plane belonging to Henan Airlines crashed during a night landing Heilongjiang province.

The newspaper cited Li Jiaxiang, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, as telling a teleconference that the results of investigations in 2008-2009 showed airlines desperate for staff were hiring pilots whose CVs had been faked.

China's aviation industry has expanded rapidly in recent years and regulators have struggled to keep up.

Airports have proliferated as have small regional airlines, reaching remote cities.

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