Khaberni - The US authorities revealed details of one of the most dangerous fraud operations in the aviation sector, with a former flight attendant successfully impersonating a pilot and professional aviation staff, and flying for free on hundreds of flights for a full four years without being detected.
According to court documents and reports published by international media, the Canadian Dallas Bochurnik (33 years old) was arrested in Panama, before being handed over to the United States, where he was charged with communication fraud in a federal court in Hawaii. Appearing in court, the defendant pleaded not guilty, while his lawyer declined to comment.
Investigations revealed that Bochurnik had worked as a flight attendant for a Canadian company between 2017 and 2019, before using his prior experience to start one of the boldest deception operations in the aviation world. He used forged job identification cards from his former employer, enabling him to book tickets exclusively reserved for pilots and flight crews.
According to the indictment, the accused successfully obtained hundreds of free tickets from three major American airlines, moving between flights and states without raising any suspicions, in a striking breach of the verification systems adopted within the airlines.
Although the judicial authorities did not disclose the names of the affected companies, they clarified that their headquarters are located in Honolulu, Chicago, and Fort Worth in Texas. In this context, no immediate comment was issued from "United Airlines" and "American Airlines," while "Porter Airlines" stated that they were unable to verify any information related to the case, and "Air Canada" confirmed that there is no record documenting Bochurnik's work for them.
The case, described as unprecedented, raised extensive questions about security loopholes in aviation systems, and how one person managed to deceive major companies and fly for free for years, before his journey finally ended in front of the US justice system.
