Fake pilot roaming New Delhi airport

A man was arrested for impersonating a pilot at one of the world's busiest airports in scenes reminiscent of the Leonardo Dicaprio film, Catch Me If You Can. Police in India said 24-year-old Sangeet Singh was parading around New Delhi's international airport dressed in full captain's uniform. He was wearing a navy-coloured pilot's suit and had a fake Singapore Airlines (SIA) identity card on a lanyard around his neck, the Straits Times reported. Suspicious security officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport questioned the man and discovered the ID granting him access to inflight operations was bogus, Indian media said. The Press Trust of India, citing police sources, said the fake ID was made with an online app, Business Card Maker, while the uniform was bought from Pilot 18, an aviation accessories supplier in Delhi. It was also claimed that the man lied to his family about being employed by SIA as a pilot. Investigations revealed he had completed a oneyear aviation hospitality course in 2020, but was not qualified to fly aircraft. In the 2002 film, Dicaprio plays the real-life con artist Frank Abagnale Jr., who passed himself off as a pilot for Pan Am while cashing millions in forged cheques. Singh, from India's northern Uttar Pradesh state, has been charged with cheating and forgery in the April 25 incident. Singapore's High Commissioner to India, Simon Wong, wrote on social media: “So glad he got caught.” SIA, which flies daily from Singapore to New Delhi, said it was aware of the incident but declined to comment further. The Indira Gandhi accommodated roughly 70 million passengers last year, making it among the most heavily used in the world. By contrast, Singapore's Changi Airport handled just under 59 million travellers in 2023, the Straits Times said.