Pilot Flew Passengers for 13 Years On Fake License

[overclockingrocks]

ok so the man committed fraud. He obviously knows what the heck he is doing if he can fly 10K hours and not have an accident or injury. I'd say ok once this ban gets lifted he should just go take the tests get the real papers and fly. I'll bet those tests would have nothing on him if he's already got 10K hours of in air experience ill gained or not

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Well, the first paragraph of the article states the man used to have some sort of commercial pilot's license and that it expired. I wonder why he created a fake license instead of gettting a real license. Are pilot licenses for commercial aircraft expensive?

 

[lauxenburg]

[citation][nom]HDmac[/nom]Well 10,000 hours of safe flying over 13 years is just as good as a license if you ask me![/citation]

Good point.

 

[nadinno78]

This is kind of a big deal. The security implications pretty serious. If anyone can forge a pilots license and get away with it, whats to stop the bad guys from doing the same. Sorry, but this shows that there are some gaping holes when it comes to airline security.

 

[Clintonio]

[citation][nom]rodney_ws[/nom]Gonna respectfully disagree on this one. A licensed pilot would likely have more emergency training... so although nothing has happened to this "pilot" yet... should something bad come up, it could get really ugly. It's still an interesting story and maybe someone will give him a second chance in a year when his ban is up.[/citation]
Something bad must have come up in 13 years.

If it's like, super critical, I expect very very few pilots, experienced or not, would be able to cope. I say give this guy a licence after a quick training course.

Like someone said above; Experience > Qualifications. A huge mistake people make these days is to reverse the operand.

 

[wild9]

He should have gone about it the right way if he was that confident of his abilities..not put lives at risk. As stated, what's the big deal with renewing one's license? I wouldn't even think about pulling a stunt like this.

 

[eddieroolz]

He has the track record and experience. I'd say reprimand him, but then give him a license.

 

[aaron686]

If he can fly for that long without being detected and not crashing the plane then it means he has the skills, too bad he didn't get the license in the first place, what a good career that would have been for him.

 

[pythy]

And this is a technical/hardware related article how?

 

[Blessedman]

honestly they should just give him his license and let him continue his career... Yes he should be punished, but should be allowed to continue as a fantastic pilot.

 

[nukemaster]

As many people here say. 13 years of safe flying should give him the damn thing. Its like an apprenticeship

 

[aletoil]

Good for him. Im trying to "move" in another direction in my career and I need a degree to answer a fricking phone nowadays. Wish people would analyze talent and not "papers." You can forge those!

 

[nuvon]

Isn't that SCARY to be his passenger for the first few hours or trips of his flying....
Would you still want to be his first passenger if you know he has no proper training?

 

[jednx01]

Not to belittle what he did.... BUT after all that time flying, I think he knows how to handle a plane.......

 

[Guest]

Makes me remember of The Simpsons when Homer was drunk and Lisa told him that he cant drive without a license. Then he goes to start the car and says "IT WORKS".

 

[tank]

So he said none of his passengers were in any harm... how about when he first started flying in the regional carry. Yes they were in harm then. I am a commercial pilot in the U.S. it is not easy to get a license like that. I can say you learn alot from the experience. In addition, he was banned for one year of flying, then he can reapply and actually take the tests this time around. He might be a great pilot now, but how about 13 years ago. How would you have liked to be on his plane then? Probably not.....

 

[ta152h]

Seems like a lot of people don't really think too much before posting. This guy pulled it off, but does that mean the next guy will? You can say things like experience qualifies him for the license, but you have the tail wagging the dog. The license is supposed to ensure a level of expertise so this pilot would not be endangering the passengers in the first place. Now, after these years, what's that got to do with anything, since he's already flown? Well, think of the message you're sending. By severely punishing this fool, you'd send a message that it's not OK to fake licenses and fly planes, whether you think you're endangering people or not. That's for someone a bit more objective, with actual standards to apply.

I'd punish him severely for putting people's lives in danger for his own benefit. We're too close to ourselves to be accurate with self-assessments, and policies are put into place to protect others from this. When you jeopardize other people by choosing a less-safe route, you deserve severe punishment regardless of outcome. This slap on the wrist will not dissuade others from following the same path or similar one, and makes a mockery out of the airline industry.

Licenses don't make great airline pilots, but they do help keep the bad ones away from the controls, and ensure at least a level of competence considered safe. Circumventing that doesn't make people safer.

 

[hanrak]

I agree with pythy, how is this related to hardware and technology? This is random mainsteam news that belongs on BBC news or where ever.

Slightly bizare if you ask me, but still its better than all those ridiculas apple news snippets of late.

 

[drutort]

i agree with many others, i would rather have this guy then those with a license who: got distracted by "laptop" right... or those who were flying drunk... and the list goes on... also this guy would be better then a noob with real license im more then sure a noob would have a hard time in an emergency, and this guy probably learned from others and his experience were there was not emergency but possibility of... experience goes a long way...

still why cant he get a real one or renew it some how after so many years?

 

[potatolord]

He shouldn't be allowed to fly again. He took a terrible risk with the lives of thousands of people over many years.

Would people take the same view of an unlicensed, uninsured school bus driver who was arrested in their home town after 13 years without an accident?