A man was taken into custody by Indian authorities at the New Delhi international airport for pretending to be a Singapore Airlines (SIA) pilot on April 25. The 24-year-old, identified as Sangeet Singh, was found donning a complete pilot’s uniform and carrying a counterfeit SIA ID card, which granted him access to in-flight operations.
Singh’s actions bear a resemblance to the plot of the movie “Catch Me If You Can,” where the protagonist impersonates various professionals, including a pilot. Singh’s disguise was uncovered when security personnel from the Central Industrial Security Force became suspicious of his appearance and began questioning him.
Upon further investigation, officials discovered that Singh’s ID was fraudulent. He had designed the fake ID using an online app called Business Card Maker and purchased the uniform from Pilot 18, an aviation accessories store in Delhi. Singh had even deceived his family into believing that he was employed by SIA as a pilot.
Preliminary inquiries revealed that Singh had completed a one-year aviation hospitality course in 2020 at an institution in Mumbai. He has been charged with cheating and forgery under India’s penal code, and investigations are still in progress, according to local police.
Singapore’s High Commissioner to India, Simon Wong, expressed his relief over Singh’s arrest on social media, stating, “So glad he got caught.” SIA released a statement on April 26, acknowledging the incident involving an individual impersonating an SIA pilot at Indira Gandhi International Airport. However, they declined to comment further due to ongoing investigations.
The Indira Gandhi International Airport is one of the world’s busiest airports, handling approximately 72 million passengers in 2023, according to airport authority Airports Council International. In comparison, Singapore’s Changi Airport served around 58.9 million passengers during the same year. SIA operates daily flights to and from New Delhi, India’s capital.