Fake pilot says passengers were never at risk

A Swedish pilot who flew commercial airliners for 13 years with a fake license said he never put passengers at risk.

Thomas Salme was caught last month as he was about to pilot a Boeing 737 from Amsterdam Shiphol to Ankara in Turkey.

He was arrested on suspicion of holding a fake pilot license after a tip-off to Dutch authorities. The 41-year-old had accumulated 10,000 unlicensed hours in the air.

He admitted he doctored his expired pilot’s license and was fined £1700 ($2000) and banned from flying for a year.

Judges in Amsterdam rejected prosecution pleas for a custodial sentence last month and even praised his safety record.

"The moral point of view is that I feel ashamed that I did lie but I didn't ever feel, not once, feel that I put passengers in an unsafe position," Mr Salme said.