AMSTERDAM - A Swedish pilot with a fake commercial licence was arrested in his cockpit at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport as he prepared to fly 101 passengers on a Boeing 737 to Turkey, Dutch police said on Wednesday.

The 41 year-old Swede, 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.