"No, it's not a scene from the 2002 movie Catch Me If You Can, where Leonardo DiCaprio poses as a pilot to defraud an airline, but it might seem familiar. On Tuesday, the U.S Attorney General's Office for the District of Hawaii said that a Toronto man is accused of posing as a commercial pilot for four years, using a fake employee ID to take hundreds of free flights on three different airlines."
"Dallas Pokornik, 33, a former flight attendant, requested a jump seat in the cockpit for the flights, the office claimed, citing court records. A jump seat is an extra seat in the cockpit typically reserved for off-duty pilots. Pokornik was arrested in Panama in January after being indicted for wire fraud on Oct. 2, 2025, authorities said. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday following his extradition, according to The Associated Press."
"According to court documents, Pokornik was a flight attendant for a Toronto-based airline from 2017 to 2019, then later used fake employee identification from that carrier to obtain tickets reserved for pilots and flight attendants on three other airlines. The court documents says Pokornik falsely claimed he was still an employee of the Toronto-based airline, "which he in fact knew to be fraudulent at the time it was so presented.""
Dallas Pokornik, 33, is accused of posing as a commercial pilot for four years using a fake employee ID to take hundreds of free flights on three airlines. He previously worked as a flight attendant for a Toronto-based carrier from 2017 to 2019 and later used that carrier's employee identification to obtain tickets reserved for pilots and flight attendants on other airlines. Pokornik reportedly requested jump seats in cockpits, which are reserved for off-duty pilots. He was arrested in Panama after an Oct. 2, 2025 wire fraud indictment, extradited, and pleaded not guilty.
Read at www.cbc.ca
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