(TORONTO) — An Air Canada pilot was arrested Monday after a probe discovered he had been allegedly flying hundreds of flights for at least 17 years without a proper license.
Canadian police officials outlined Geoffrey Wall’s alleged fraud, which they said, “read like a movie script.”
Since 2009, when Wall was promoted to captain, he has been flying with a fraudulent airline transport pilot license, the credential that would allow him to fly commercial airplanes as a captain, Peel Regional Police said.
Authorities compared Wall to a doctor who is licensed to practice family medicine marching into a hospital to perform brain surgery.
“Licensing requirements exist for a reason. They exist to keep people safe,” Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich of the Peel Regional Police said.
Wall’s arrest was part of a fraud investigation dubbed “Project Icarus,” which started after a random certification check done last year at Pearson International Airport in Toronto turned up “anomalies,” investigators said.
Wall, 59, of Barrie, Ontario, is no longer working with Air Canada, the airline said Monday night.
In a news release, Air Canada said it “takes this matter with utmost seriousness.”
“Safety was not compromised by this incident because all pilots at Air Canada undergo mandatory recurrent training every six months to validate their flying competency, including a flight check with a certified Transport Canada check-pilot every 12 months,” the airline said in a statement.
“However, appropriate licensing is an essential layer of the airline industry’s multi-layered approach to safety, so Air Canada takes this matter with utmost seriousness,” it added.
Wall is charged with fraud, public mischief and other offenses. He was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court later this month.
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