Man poses as pilot,hitches plane ride

The guy has now been arrested after setting up a fake Facebook account under the name Andrea Sirlo and successfully flying as a third pilot on an Air Dolomiti plane from Munich to Turin,but he is not thought to have touched the plane8217;s controls.

The police said in a statement: 8220;On at least one occasion in 2012,pretending to be a pilot of a foreign commercial airline,and with a fake name,he succeeded in flying as the third pilot in the cockpit.8221;

Suspicions arose when Sirlo introduced himself as captain to an aviation lieutenant,who became wary about the mystery man due to his young age.

Sirlo 8211; whose real name has not been released 8211; has been charged with endangering air transport security.

His scam is similar to the Leonardo DiCaprio film 8216;Catch Me if You Can8217;,which sees the Hollywood actor portray a conman who posed as a pilot.

Bangshowbiz