HONG KONG  The Chinese government is conducting a broad investigation into the qualifications of the country’s pilots, aircraft mechanics, flight trainers and other aviation personnel after finding that as many as 200 commercial pilots may have falsified their résumés in 2008 and 2009, according to reports in the Chinese news media on Monday and Tuesday.

The investigation started even before the deadly Aug. 24 crash of a Henan Airlines plane that came down well short of the runway while attempting a night landing in Yichun, a town in northeast Heilongjiang Province, according to Chinese news media. Regulators at the Civil Aviation Administration of China could not be reached for comment on Tuesday morning.

The Henan Airlines crash, of an Embraer 190 made in Brazil, killed 42 and injured 54. The crash has caused such a scandal in China that although it did not occur in Henan Province, the authorities have ordered the airline to change its name, so as to limit harm to the province’s image.

News reports indicated that slightly more than half of the pilots found to have given fake qualifications on their résumés worked for Henan Airlines’ fast-growing parent, Shenzhen Airlines. Officials at Shenzhen Airlines could not be reached for comment.