Guys remember that the media like to overhype things, The real story is he lied about one written theory exam (Not type related to the 737) every other Test, Check ride, Sim session etc was taken without issue with three airlines! Dont know why this is even in the news, maybe due to the ATC non incident in JFK.. I guess the media are getting bored with the Afghan conflict.......... :(

Guys remember that the media like to overhype things, The real story is he lied about one written theory exam (Not type related to the 737) every other Test, Check ride, Sim session etc was taken without issue with three airlines! Dont know why this is even in the news, maybe due to the ATC non incident in JFK.. I guess the media are getting bored with the Afghan conflict.......... :(

Even with the media's habit to overhype things - I think the situation here's more serious than that.

Even with the media's habit to overhype things - I think the situation here's more serious than that.

My only point is the media are making it out like it's the same as a driving license, you take one test and thats it. He was a ex Airforce pilot, he has been trained and gone through hundreds of checks in the Sim, ground school, line checks Tyre rating courses for the 737 etc gone through multiple interviews with 3 different airlines and passed. He lied on 1 theory test many years ago, I dont agree with it but I still think it is hype.

My only point is the media are making it out like it's the same as a driving license, you take one test and thats it. He was a ex Airforce pilot, he has been trained and gone through hundreds of checks in the Sim, ground school, line checks Tyre rating courses for the 737 etc gone through multiple interviews with 3 different airlines and passed. He lied on 1 theory test many years ago, I dont agree with it but I still think it is hype.

Where are you getting this information from, you seem to have more information on this than me. All I have seen is the very brief news statement from the BBC from the link in the opening post:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8549954.stm

Where are you getting this information from, you seem to have more information on this than me. All I have seen is the very brief news statement from the BBC from the link in the opening post:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8549954.stm

The usual rumor network, I'm sure you know what site I'm talking about. Don't want to post a link as way too many simmers already post there pretending to be real pilots.. a bit ironic

I wouldn't put money on that. Frank William Abagnale, Jr, who was the subject of the movie, 'Catch me if you can', eventually ended up working as a security consultant for many of the banks he had defrauded in the past.Al

it seems like he is an asset to those banks. He knew how he did what he did and helped the banks not let the same thing happen again. However, One will find a list of disqualifying crimes for being able to obtain that kind of clearance and what he did was on the list. I believe any felony is disqualifying.

The usual rumor network, I'm sure you know what site I'm talking about. Don't want to post a link as way too many simmers already post there pretending to be real pilots.. a bit ironic

I usually don't place a lot of faith in rumors and rumor networks. Also I hate to admit my own ignorance but actually nope, I'm not sure what site you're talking about.Simmers pretending to be real pilots - the Internet is full of deception! (nothing new about that I guess) Me - I've got some flight hours - pathetically small amount, can't afford anymore for the time being, and 1000s of FS hours and a decent amount of aviation knowledge; but I'm no real pilot, hopefully I'll get there in the end with my stubborn determination :( - My goal is to be a real pilot not pretend to be one.

I usually don't place a lot of faith in rumors and rumor networks. Also I hate to admit my own ignorance but actually nope, I'm not sure what site you're talking about.Simmers pretending to be real pilots - the Internet is full of deception! (nothing new about that I guess) Me - I've got some flight hours - pathetically small amount, can't afford anymore for the time being, and 1000s of FS hours and a decent amount of aviation knowledge; but I'm no real pilot, hopefully I'll get there in the end with my stubborn determination :( - My goal is to be a real pilot not pretend to be one.

If you've gone up solo, you are a pilot. Not necessarily an experienced pilot, but a pilot nonetheless. That first flight is the one that is the tough one as far as nerves are concerned, and even sim hours are useful after you've made that flight.Al

I wouldn't put money on that. Frank William Abagnale, Jr, who was the subject of the movie, 'Catch me if you can', eventually ended up working as a security consultant for many of the banks he had defrauded in the past.Al

LOL - isn't this a case of "keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer" :( :(

Yup, what better check pilot could you have than someone who really knows when somebody is blagging that they know something? Set a thief to catch a thief and all that...Al

This whole story fly's in the face of the idea that the general public and some of us here have,is that flying is hard, Its not rocket science, Try wrenching on them, on 9 different a/c at one airline I worked at, Or in general aviation for that matter.

That's true these days on airliners. Most airlines them don't even call the crew pilots any more, they call them 'operators', which says it all really.Al

Hello,All this let me wonder if the brothers Wright have a pilot licence when they performed their jump He he .... maybe this flight was illegal ? Regards.Gus.

Well they could have written their own out, since Orville Wright's signature was printed on the early Aero Club of America pilot's licences. Interestingly, the licences themselves were only required for sporting events and not a legal requirement in the US until the 1920s, although somewhat bizarrely, it was neither of the Wright brothers who got the first licence, but Glen Curtiss.Al

Sorry for digging out this old thread. I was going to start a thread about Thomas Salme, but I discovered there is a thread already, although more than 4 years old.

 

Anyway, I came across the story of Thomas Salme last week. And I was amazed. While I always thought it might be possible to enter a cockpit of an airliner with fake papers and a uniform, I didn't think it would be possible to actually fly an airliner without actual pilot training.

 

So how did Thomas Salme manage to do so? Well, he called a simulator center, explained that he is a commercial pilot but currently unemployed, and asked if he could use a simulator for training. That's where he got to know someone from the simulator center and so he got access several times or more specifically 15 to 20 times @ 2-3 hours each time over one and a half year. That's 30 to 60 hours of simulator training only. While his theoretical knowledge came from reading manuals and professional literature, just what some hardcore simulator enthusiasts do (including myself). Then he "simply" applied for the Italian airline Air One. They put him on a 4 hours simulator test flight, which he passed. That was his entry to the real cockpit for 13 years, also flying for Corendon Airlines and Jet2 airlines, while he got official documents each time he passed check flights.

 

But the most amazing part actually is his fake licence: he simply printed it on normal paper, and even cut it out by hand, just with scissors...

 

This is Thomas Salme, when he was flying as a PIC:

 

 

Surprisingly he was just charged with a financial penalty of 2000 Euro / 2300 USD and was banned from flying for 12 months only. I think this was because technically he actually was a pilot, but just without any licence and without ever visiting a pilot school. He accumulated 10.00 hours, passed all tests during his 13 years as a pilot and never caused an incident. Quite the opposite: he even had a bird strike during an approach and landed with one engine only.

 

Well, training in a simulator is one thing. Some enthusiasts would be able to fly a simulator or even a real 737 or A320 (in fact I also would, which I figured out while flying in a 737-300 simulator, after flying on PC for more than one decade while the addons became more and more professional as we all know). But to fake a licence, apply for a real airline, fly a real airplane and to lie to all the people including your family, is a completely different matter. This man had nerves of steel I think. And to live with such a lie, while the whole fake life could "take wings" any time, certainly isn't easy. That's why he said he actually felt a huge relief when they arrested him in Amsterdam in 2010. But today real pilots are still amazed by his story. He was on German television recently, flying in an Airbus simulator on the left seat just for show, while a real pilot was sitting on the right seat. He still managed to fly the simulator perfectly, including a flight beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. Afterwards the pilot asked him if there actually were passengers onboard when he landed a real plane for the very first time. Salme said "yes of course". The pilot just laughed disbelievingly, and said he was glad that there weren't any passengers on his first landing

 

But after all Thomas Salme made his dream become true, and flew for 13 years, accumulating 10.000 hours.That's quite a career for someone who had no licence (accept an invalid PPL). I claim that with a "properly" faked licence, he would have flown until retirement. Especially since licences are now being replaced by the new EASA licences in Europe as far as I know. That leads to the question: how many fake pilots one would find out there?

 

Anyway, I think it's an amazing story. He is my favourite impostor (beside Gert Postel, a German postman who became consultant of a specialty hospital for psychiatry in 1995). What do you think?

 

Today Thomas is a photographer and lives in Italy with his two children by the way.