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Dallas Pokornik, 33, of Toronto, was arrested in Panama after
being indicted on wire fraud charges in federal court in Hawaii
last October. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday following his
extradition.
According to court documents, Pokornik was a flight attendant
for a Toronto-based airline from 2017 to 2019, then used fake
employee identification from that carrier to obtain tickets
reserved for pilots and flight attendants on three other
airlines.
U.S. prosecutors said Tuesday that Pokornik even requested to
sit in an extra seat in the cockpit — the “jump seat” —
typically reserved for off-duty pilots. It was not clear from
court documents whether he ever actually rode in a plane’s
cockpit, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to say.
The indictment did not identify the airlines except to say they
are based in Honolulu, Chicago and Fort Worth, Texas.
Representatives for Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines and
American Airlines — which are respectively based in those cities
— didn’t immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press
seeking comment.
Air Canada, which is based in Toronto, also did not respond to
an email seeking comment.
The scheme lasted four years, the U.S. prosecutors in Hawaii
said.
A U.S. magistrate judge on Tuesday ordered Pokornik to remain in
custody. His federal defender declined to comment.
In 2023, an off-duty airline pilot riding in the cockpit of a
Horizon Air flight said “I’m not OK” just before trying to cut
the engines midflight. That pilot, Joseph Emerson, later told
police he had been struggling with depression.
A federal judge sentenced him to time served last November.
The allegations against Pokornik are reminiscent of “Catch Me If
You Can,” the movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio that tells the
story of Frank Abagnale posing as a pilot to defraud an airline
and obtain free flights.
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