Man posing as pilot detained in US

This image released by the Philadelphia Police Department on March 22, 2013, shows Philippe Jernnard, of France, who was arrested at Philadelphia International Airport and charged with impersonating a pilot. Source: AFP

A FRENCHMAN wearing a uniform and claiming to be an Air France pilot was arrested on board a plane in the US city of Philadelphia after being found sitting in the cockpit, police say.

The individual, identified as Philippe Jeannard of La Rochelle, France, was a ticketed passenger for the US Airways flight to West Palm Beach, Florida, according to a police statement that spelled his name two different ways.

Jeannard, in his 60s, was found sitting in the jump-seat behind the captain's chair and claimed to be a 747 pilot for Air France.

"When (Jeannard) could not produce proper credentials he was removed from the flight and the police were notified," the Philadelphia police said.

"When arrested, (Jeannard) was in possession of a counterfeit Air France Crew member identification card," it said in the statement.

He has been charged with criminal trespass, tampering with records, impersonating a privately employed person and presenting false identification to law enforcement.

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Four years' jail for smuggler pilot

A PILOT who attempted to smuggle more than $1 million worth of methamphetamine through Sydney Airport has been jailed for at least four years.

Thiagu Supramaniam, who was about to be promoted to a position as a Boeing 747 captain with Malaysia Airlines, was caught with 4.49kg of methamphetamine which he was meant to drop off to another drug courier at the Stamford Hotel in Mascot.

Customs and Border Patrol officers caught the 32-year-old with the drugs when they conducted a random inspection of his aircraft after it arrived from Kuala Lumpur on January 10 last year.

They found six packages of the drugs concealed in his luggage when they conducted the random search on arrival.

The details emerged in the District Court yesterday when Judge Ian McClintock jailed Supramaniam for six years with a non-parole period of four years.

Supramaniam pleaded guilty to importing a commercial quantity of the drug, which had an 80 per cent purity level.

He told investigators he had imported similar packages into Australia on four occasions prior to his arrest.

The court also heard he had succumbed to a gambling addiction which ended with a loan shark, connected to drug cartels, who seized his personal identification documents and threatened his family.

By betting on soccer matches starting with the 2008 Euro Cup, Supramaniam had accumulated more than $15,000 in debts and was being crushed by insurmountable interest, the court heard.

He was to be paid $1500 for importing each package of the drugs into Australia.

According to travel records, Supramaniam had travelled to Australia for one-night stays 47 times over six months in 2011, the court heard.

He will be eligible for parole in January, 2016.

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