Pilot arrested after flying of fake licence for 13 years

A Swedish pilot who had been flying on a fake licence for more than a decade was arrested on an aeroplane at Amsterdam's Schipol airport as he prepared to take off with 101 passengers aboard, Telegraph reported.

The pilot was arrested in his cockpit as he prepared to fly on a Boeing 737 to Turkey, Dutch police said on Wednesday.

The 41-year-old Swedish man, who was at the helm of a jet bound for Ankara, had been flying for 13 years and logged more than 10,000 flight hours using forged documents for airlines in Belgium, Britain and Italy, authorities said.

The pilot, whose name was not disclosed, was said to have expressed relief when confronted and taken off his pilot's stripes.