Senior pilot fired for stealing with a fake license for 20 years

An experienced South African pilot was asked to resign after discovering that he had been flying commercial aircraft for over 20 years with a fake license.

William Chandler, a pilot of South African Airways (SAA), was discovered in possession of a fake airline pilot license as a result of an investigation into an incident that occurred during the flight. a flight that he was flying.

According to Mail and guard, the incident occurred in November 2018 during a flight from the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Frankfurt, Germany.

SAA spokeswoman Tlali Tlali said that an investigation into the incident in the Swiss airspace led to the discovery of the false license.

"The pilot had successfully completed all required safety training. However, we find it puzzling that false statements were made about the type of license the pilot claimed to have, "said Tlali.

According to the spokesman, the airline now wants Chandler, who joined them as a pilot in 1994 to repay the money that he had fraudulently earned.

False Russian pilot

In 2018, a reputed Russian pilot, Taras Shelest, has revealed himself to be a fraud.

Although he had never taken an aviation course and simulated his degree, Shelest would have stolen thousands of people around the world for several years, until a strange incident discovered him. finally.

In August 2015, Shelest was co-pilot on a pbadenger flight between Moscow and Cyprus. When he entered the Ukrainian airspace, he contacted the ground controller according to the protocol. Instead of sticking to the strict technical language, he used a very strange welcome message: "Glory to Ukraine!

It was apparently so unusual that Shelest was reported to the security department of his company, who then contacted the FSB, the Russian federal security service.

The man was not even a real pilot, but a flying enthusiast who had learned to fly with flight simulators and simulated his aviation degree.