A Frenchman with the very French name of Philippe Jernnard LaRocelle was arrested Wednesday night after he attempted to impersonate a pilot. According to police, the 61-year-old boarded a Florida-bound US Airways flight dressed in an Air France pilot's uniform and successfully made his way into the plane's cockpit before being detained.
Like the other passengers, he had a normal ticket and was in his assigned seat when he asked a flight attendant permission to ride in the cockpit. Somehow, he was allowed to do so, and settled into the jump-seat behind the captain's chair. Everything was going fine until the actual pilot showed up and responded to LaRocelle's claim of being a 747 pilot with a few a basic questions, like "Where are your credentials? Do you even have ID?"
LaRochelle showed him a (probably obviously) fake Air France ID, which prompted the pilot to remove him from the plane and call the police. The fake pilot was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing, breaking into a structure, forgery-alter writing, tampering with records or ID, false impression, and false identification to law enforcement. He's currently being held on a staggering $1 million bail, which should be more than enough to deter any would-be imitators.
[Image via ABC6]