If Leonardo DiCaprio’s Catch Me If You Can ever needed a sequel, prosecutors say real life may have already written one.
A Canadian man, Dallas Pokornik, is accused of masquerading as both a pilot and a flight attendant, allegedly raking in hundreds of free flights over four years, US authorities said.
Prosecutors allege the 33-year-old Toronto native created a fake employee identification card to receive free flights on US airlines - and at one point even asked to sit in the cockpit.
Pokornik was arrested in Panama and extradited to the United States, where he now faces wire fraud charges.
The BBC has contacted Pokornik’s lawyer for comment.
The scheme, outlined in court documents, bears striking similarities to the 2002 DiCaprio film in which a charming teenager running from th…
If Leonardo DiCaprio’s Catch Me If You Can ever needed a sequel, prosecutors say real life may have already written one.
A Canadian man, Dallas Pokornik, is accused of masquerading as both a pilot and a flight attendant, allegedly raking in hundreds of free flights over four years, US authorities said.
Prosecutors allege the 33-year-old Toronto native created a fake employee identification card to receive free flights on US airlines - and at one point even asked to sit in the cockpit.
Pokornik was arrested in Panama and extradited to the United States, where he now faces wire fraud charges.
The BBC has contacted Pokornik’s lawyer for comment.
The scheme, outlined in court documents, bears striking similarities to the 2002 DiCaprio film in which a charming teenager running from the FBI impersonates a pilot to jet around the world.
Prosecutors say Pokornik had previously worked legitimately as a flight attendant for a Canadian airline from 2017 to 2019, but was not employed by any airline at the time of the alleged fraud.
In the years after Pokornik’s employment on that airline, prosecutors allege that Pokornik used a fake badge defrauding three US airlines out of flights reserved for pilots and flight attendants.
At one point, Pokornik requested to sit in a "jump seat" in a plane’s cockpit, a spot reserved for off-duty pilots, despite not being a pilot or having an airman’s certificate, prosecutors allege in court documents.
But whether Pokornik ever actually did ride with the pilots on a flight is unclear.
The US airlines are not named in the indictment but are identified as being headquartered in Honolulu, Chicago and Fort Worth, Texas.
Though the indictment currently only covers a period from January through October 2024, prosecutors are aware of Pokornik’s alleged misconduct over the course of four years, from January 2020 to October 2024, a justice department spokesperson told the BBC.
If convicted, Pokornik faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, the Department of Justice said.