http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/wor ... ified-records-govt/

BEIJING (AFP) - China is investigating its commercial pilots' qualifications amid revelations more than 200 of them lied on their resumes.

The probe comes after 42 people died on August 24 when a Brazilian-made jet flown by Henan Airlines crashed at a small airport in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province.

Fifty-four passengers and crew survived the crash, in which the plane missed the runway, sparking speculation that pilot error was to blame.

The investigation into qualifications was launched by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the country's aviation regulator, the central government's news website said.

Between 2008 and 2009, the resumes of more than 200 Chinese commercial pilots were found to have been falsified, the report said, with some of them embellishing their flying histories.

At least half of the pilots worked for Shenzhen Airlines, which owns Henan Airlines.

"Some pilots changed their jobs many times and they constantly distorted their resumes," the report said.

"Some of them were former military pilots and became civil pilots, after being discovered a lot of them were grounded and had to go through re-examinations and re-assessment."

Investigators looking into the Henan Airlines crash were focusing on the qualifications of the pilot, the report added.

Previous media reports have said the pilot survived the crash, but was badly injured.

The government would also check the qualifications of other industry workers such as flight trainers, airline investigators, repair crews and air traffic controllers, Monday's report said.

It gave no figures on the number of people involved. China had 11,000 commercial air pilots in 2006, with hundreds added annually as the domestic aviation industry grows rapidly, according to previous media reports.

"We must draw a lesson from this painful air accident and figure out how to control the quick development (of the industry) and use quality demands to stabilise and slow development," Li Jiaxiang, CAAC head, was quoted by the government report as saying.

Authorities have already ordered safety checks of the country's fast-growing civil aviation fleet of 1,300 planes in the wake of the disaster, China's first major air disaster in nearly six years.

Some online chatrooms, the main outlet for relatively free public expression for millions in China, expressed outrage over the resume revelations.

"Why are they allowing Shenzhen to fly? Why are they allowed to do business if they have over 100 fake pilots?" said a posting on Sina.com.

However, the lack of a major disaster for six years despite head-spinning growth indicates China has done a "brilliant job on safety," said Sydney-based aviation analyst Derek Sadubin.

"They have had rapid growth over the past decade and have been trouble-free, basically. They have a safety record that is highly regarded," said Sadubin, of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

He added that Chinese carriers have continually upgraded their fleet, giving them one of the newest collections of planes in the world.

The GFC may result in more American pilots flying in China, I was surprised to hear an american accent coming over the in flight speakers as the captain welcomed us on board a domestic flight I was on in China last time I was there.

If you want to fly international flights though, you have to be able to speak english so that you can communicate with the flight tower personnel. I saw one TV report where they playback recordings made of Chinese pilots landing in the U.S. without them being able to speak understandable english. Very dodgy.

Dangers of flying change according to destination
FLYING in developing countries is 13 times more dangerous than in first world nations, a new study has revealed.
The odds of dying on a scheduled flight in first world countries such as the US, Australia and Japan were calculated at one in 14 million.
However flying in emerging countries such as Brazil, Taiwan and India led to a one in two million chance of being killed per flight.
The odds worsened when it came to less economically-advanced developing nations such as Africa and Latin America, with a crash rate of one in 800,000.
The calculations were made by Arnold Barnett, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management in the US and a researcher on aviation safety, who analysed data from 2000-07.
Mr Barnett said the gap between aviation safety in developing and developed countries is significant.
"Flying to a developing country is statistically less safe than flying to a first world country," Mr Barnett said.
"Once there, flying internally is less safe than, for example, flying in Western Europe. It's not a vague impression. It's a big systematic difference."
"Even in countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong, with first world incomes and quality of life, the statistical safety record is closer to that of still developing countries. They haven't caught up."
However Mr Barnett, who became interested in airline safety due to his own fear of flying, said safety seems to be increasing around the world.
"One in 800,000 is still pretty low," he said. "We are talking about safe and very safe, not safe and dangerous."
Mr Barnett said cultural differences such as deference to authority (such as thinking the pilot is always right, even when they’re wrong) and “individualism”, or the ability to solve problems alone may explain the different accident rates.
Mr Barnett’s findings were published in the journal Transportation Science.
There have been eight fatal accidents on scheduled passenger flights so far this year, with all eight occurred in the developing world.
Link here:
http://www.news.com.au/travel/ne ... 5160553?area=travel

Hmm... didn't they have fake eggs from China before? If people try to sell fake eggs to make money, falsifying documents to be a pilot sounds like a child play=D

Do you know if these stats include small aircraft, couriers and other non-passenger jet liners?

why is everything from China always "fan ban".. even airline pilots?

seems almost ridiculous...

My scariest flight was a domestic flight in India (which I see makes the list in Atomic's post...)

As we were taking off, there were children running up and down the aisle, the family opposite me were passing bags of curry and food back and forth, most of the overheard lockers were open, with bags falling out, and the hostess was standing at the front of the aisle gazing out the window! I was expecting a live chicken or goat to appear any minute. I actually saw tape holding some of the interior panels together! It was a very rough flight and an hour in the air felt like a month. When we landed, I swear we bounced on the runway about 5 times before finally setting down... By then the cabin was full of junk (most of it curry) and I was white-knuckled with stress!

Some of the planes I have flown in are scary enough, let alone the people flying them! I guess if everything goes well, these people get away with it. It is only when there is an emergency (thankfully rare these days) that their skills/knowledge is lacking.

EDIT: rockypop - what is fan ban?

[ Last edited by  lister01 at 7-9-2010 18:09 ]

You should ask the family to share the curry! At least you would die with a full stomach

"Fan ban" =  "copy template" (best I can come up with) or replica

"Fan Ban" (翻板) is Cantonese slang for fake or replica, whereas the proper Cantonese phrase would be 冒牌.

Hah.. At least I would not have to deal with it coming out the other end the next morning!

I guess we could start a whole new thread here about scary flights...

Thanks for the translation bro's.

Seems like there so much fakeness coming out of China these days...fake pilots, fake goods. Still the track record seems to be quite good..as long as we don't see a crash happening anytime soon, it should be allllll goood.

The good old days were in the 1990s, Kai Tak was one to cack your pants to, I swear I saw into a man's flat and saw something on his TVB in a quick glimpse.

Also in the 1990s the Huangshan airport. It wasn't scary landing as we landed at night.... but it was strange how they used reverse thrust before they landed...

I had a look in the morning and the runway goes into a mountain and is very uneven.

Yeah I remember Kai Tak, one of the more interesting airports to land in, I think this made HK special. Didnt the pilots have to get additional training/certs to land there?
What do they use Kai Tak for these days?