'Fake pilot' who travelled for free across Europe detained

A jobless man who posed as an airline pilot to hitch a free ride across Europe has been arrested, Italian police have confirmed.

Wearing a homemade captain’s uniform and using fake ID, the 32-year-old Italian set up a Facebook page under the name Andrea Sirlo.

Police were alerted to the scam after 'Sirlo' introduced himself as captain to an aviation lieutenant, who became suspicious of his young age.

'On at least one occasion in 2012, pretending to be a pilot of a foreign commercial airline, and with a fake name, he succeeded in flying as the third pilot in the cockpit,' police said in a statement.

He sat as the third pilot on an Air Dolomiti plane from Munich to Turin in April but did not touch the jet’s controls, say police.

The man, whose real name has not been released, has been charged with endangering air transport security, while further claims he hitched rides on other Lufthansa flights are also being investigated.

The case echoes the film Catch Me If You Can, in which Leonardo DiCaprio plays a conman posing as a pilot.


/metro.co.uk/