"They don't have flying experience," Pakistan Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan announced on Wednesday that the country has 262 pilots hold fake licenses by paying others take exams for them, according to the Associated Press.

Currently, there are 860 active pilots serve in the country, including Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Serene Air (ER), and Air Blue (PA). 

The discovery was part of a report into an investigation of a plane crash in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi that killed 97 people on May 22.

Officials didn't clarify whether the two pilots on the flight had fake licenses.

So far, the PIA has grounded all pilots holding fake licenses.

"PIA acknowledges that fake licenses is not just a PIA issue but spread across the entire Pakistani airline industry," spokesperson Abdullah Khan said.

He added that some of these fake pilots also flew to the foreign carriers.

Read more: Pakistan plane crash kills 97, with two survivors, black box found

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