A PASSENGER has been arrested after attempting to impersonate a pilot to get a free flight.
The man claimed to be a pilot for Lufthansa while boarding an AirAsia flight at Delhi Airport.
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According to the Times of India, he was caught wearing a pilot’s uniform from the German airline, as well as carrying an identity card.
A source explained that AirAsia contacted the Lufthansa office to confirm this, only for Lufthansa to send a team to his whereabouts at the airport.
When confronted by them, he then admitted that he was impersonating a pilot.
He claimed to have used the card on numerous occasions in the past six months, after buying the fake ID card in Bangkok.
The man also said he used to identify as a Lufthansa consultant before pretending to be the pilot.
An AirAsia spokesperson told the Times of India: “The individual in question was impersonating as an employee of Lufthansa airlines.
“He was handed over to the airport police and an investigation has been ordered.”
The daring attempt mimics the famous 2002 film Catch Me If You Can featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.
It is based on the true story of Frank Abagnale who pretended to be a pilot to travel the world and travelled on more than 250 flights in the 1960s.
Shockingly, it isn’t the first time – a 32-year-old man attempted the same move with Lufthansa in 2012 while a 61-year old French man also pretended to be a pilot on a US Airways flight in 2013.
Pilots or crew members who are not working but are still travelling are ‘deadheading’ meaning they are sitting on a flight but are not serving passengers.
A pilot lost his job after using Star Wars villain Jabba the Hutt as his reference on an application.
Sun Online Travel contacted Lufthansa for comment.
