French man accesses US Airways cockpit by impersonating pilot

A French man has been arrested after allegedly posing as an airline pilot and gaining access to the cockpit of a US Airways flight bound for Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Philippe Jernnard LaRocelle was reportedly denied a seat in business class before boarding the plane and telling flight crew he was a pilot with Air France.

According to Fox News, Philadelphia police Captain Michael Murphy told the MyFoxPhilly.com: "He had an Air France shirt. He had an Air France bag. He had some identification that looked like he was a crew member from Air France."

He managed to wangle his way into the jump seat behind the captain, but was removed from the plane after he failed to produce proper identification and credentials.

According to the Daily Mail, he is being held on a $1m bail, and has been "charged with criminal trespassing, breaking into a structure, forgery-alter writing, tampering with records or ID, false impression, and false identification to law enforcement".

The story is reminiscent of the con played out by imposter Frank Abignale during the 60s, which saw him impersonating a Pan Am pilot and flying across the world to 26 countries sitting in the cockpit jump seat.

His story was made into a film, Catch Me If You Can, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Abignale.

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