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In a rather audacious scheme, a former flight attendant from Canada managed to deceive several U.S. airlines into granting him free flights by masquerading as a commercial pilot and active flight attendant. This brazen act has now landed him in legal trouble, as revealed by authorities.
Dallas Pokornik, a 33-year-old resident of Toronto, found himself in custody in Panama following an indictment on wire fraud charges by a federal court in Hawaii last October. After being extradited, Pokornik stood before the court on Tuesday, where he entered a plea of not guilty.
Court documents detail Pokornik’s employment history as a flight attendant with a Toronto-based airline from 2017 to 2019. After leaving that position, he allegedly used counterfeit employee identification from his former employer to secure travel perks typically reserved for airline staff, specifically targeting three U.S. carriers.
Prosecutors have accused Pokornik of going so far as to request the privilege of occupying the “jump seat” in the cockpit. This seat is ordinarily designated for off-duty pilots, adding a layer of seriousness to the allegations. However, what remains unclear from the documents is whether Pokornik ever managed to actually sit in the cockpit. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has chosen not to comment on this aspect of the case.