Aviation watchdog: 200 pilots inflated resumes
By Li Xinran and Wang Weini |
September 7, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
More than 200 pilots around the country have misrepresented their flying histories, according to China's aviation industry watchdog.
Among them are some 103 pilots from Shenzhen Airlines who gave misleading information about their backgrounds, according to a source with the General Administration of Civil Aviation, which undertook a review of pilot credential in 2008 and 2009.
Shenzhen Airlines - a budget airline headquartered on the grounds of Bao'an International Airport in Shenzhen City of Guangdong Province - is the parent company of Henan Airlines. It was a Henan Airlines plane that crashed recently in the city of Yichun in Heilongjiang Province, killing 42 people.
The pilots, many of them former military pilots of fighter jets, either lied or exaggerated, often about their number of hours' experience in flying larger planes, said a source with the watchdog.
A senior executive of a private-owned domestic airline told China Business News that some of those pilots falsified their work histories because of frequent job-hopping, while some others were retired military aviators.
The executive said that most of the pilots were suspended from duty awaiting further assessment.
The disclosures about pilot qualifications comes at a time of scrutiny for China's aviation industry, following the fatal jet crash in Yichun. The aviation administration said it intends to extend the background checks to ground engineers, air control and technical staff.
Li Jiaxiang, director of the general administration, vowed in a recent video conference to slow the fast growth in the nation's aviation sector to ensure the industry's healthy development.
Revenues for China's airlines have soared 12 to 14 percent annually in recent years. The combined profits of the top three domestic airlines in the first half of this year accounted for almost half of the world's aviation industry profits.
Last Wednesday, the state aviation regulator ordered China Express Air to suspend operations, after a wing tip scraped the ground when a China Express Air plane made a landing in the country's southwest on August 28. No one was killed or injured.
It was the first punishment for a domestic airline since the August 24 crash in Yichun. No progress has been reported in the government investigation into the accident.
The Henan Airlines plane - arriving from Heilongjiang's capital, Harbin, with 91 passengers and five crew - split in two while trying to land at the relatively new Lindu Airport on the outskirts of Yichun.
Captain Qi Quanjun piloted the Brazilian-built Embraer E-190 jet. Qi, 40, said nothing about the accident except that he "couldn't remember anything," when interviewed by Xinhua news agency at Yichun's No. 1 Hospital late last month.
Qi served in the Chinese air force before piloting passenger jets. A source close to the pilot said he used to work for Shenzhen Airlines, the parent company of Henan Airlines, and resigned after he was demoted from captain to copilot.
Henan Airlines, previously known as Kunpeng Airlines, flies smaller regional jets, mainly on routes in north and northeast China.
"Frankly speaking, Qi's landing skills were so-so," said the source, who works at Mohe, another regional airport on China's northern border. "He became a captain again at Henan Airlines."
It was Qi's first time piloting the plane to the city 150 kilometers from the Russian border.
Among them are some 103 pilots from Shenzhen Airlines who gave misleading information about their backgrounds, according to a source with the General Administration of Civil Aviation, which undertook a review of pilot credential in 2008 and 2009.
Shenzhen Airlines - a budget airline headquartered on the grounds of Bao'an International Airport in Shenzhen City of Guangdong Province - is the parent company of Henan Airlines. It was a Henan Airlines plane that crashed recently in the city of Yichun in Heilongjiang Province, killing 42 people.
The pilots, many of them former military pilots of fighter jets, either lied or exaggerated, often about their number of hours' experience in flying larger planes, said a source with the watchdog.
A senior executive of a private-owned domestic airline told China Business News that some of those pilots falsified their work histories because of frequent job-hopping, while some others were retired military aviators.
The executive said that most of the pilots were suspended from duty awaiting further assessment.
The disclosures about pilot qualifications comes at a time of scrutiny for China's aviation industry, following the fatal jet crash in Yichun. The aviation administration said it intends to extend the background checks to ground engineers, air control and technical staff.
Li Jiaxiang, director of the general administration, vowed in a recent video conference to slow the fast growth in the nation's aviation sector to ensure the industry's healthy development.
Revenues for China's airlines have soared 12 to 14 percent annually in recent years. The combined profits of the top three domestic airlines in the first half of this year accounted for almost half of the world's aviation industry profits.
Last Wednesday, the state aviation regulator ordered China Express Air to suspend operations, after a wing tip scraped the ground when a China Express Air plane made a landing in the country's southwest on August 28. No one was killed or injured.
It was the first punishment for a domestic airline since the August 24 crash in Yichun. No progress has been reported in the government investigation into the accident.
The Henan Airlines plane - arriving from Heilongjiang's capital, Harbin, with 91 passengers and five crew - split in two while trying to land at the relatively new Lindu Airport on the outskirts of Yichun.
Captain Qi Quanjun piloted the Brazilian-built Embraer E-190 jet. Qi, 40, said nothing about the accident except that he "couldn't remember anything," when interviewed by Xinhua news agency at Yichun's No. 1 Hospital late last month.
Qi served in the Chinese air force before piloting passenger jets. A source close to the pilot said he used to work for Shenzhen Airlines, the parent company of Henan Airlines, and resigned after he was demoted from captain to copilot.
Henan Airlines, previously known as Kunpeng Airlines, flies smaller regional jets, mainly on routes in north and northeast China.
"Frankly speaking, Qi's landing skills were so-so," said the source, who works at Mohe, another regional airport on China's northern border. "He became a captain again at Henan Airlines."
It was Qi's first time piloting the plane to the city 150 kilometers from the Russian border.
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