Last week, a former Cathay Pacific Airlines pilot pleaded guilty in federal court in Honolulu to unlawfully entering a secure area of the Honolulu International Airport (HNL) on January 26, 2013. And any legal question of intent did not seem difficult to prove, as he was wearing his former employer’s pilot uniform and security credentials to bypass a TSA security checkpoint.
His criminal sentencing in federal court is set for February, 2015, where his criminal offense level, criminal history (if any), and acceptance of responsibility will be advisory factors in his sentence type and length.
News reports state he was flying on Delta Air Lines to the mainland to start training for his new job as pilot with Atlas Air, and he used his “active pilot ruse” merely as a matter of personal convenience so he could skip the TSA security checkpoint and not have to take off his shoes.
Law enforcement and the courts are going to clearly take airport security very seriously. If only he would have paid his $100 for 5 years of Global Entry qualification which includes TSA PreCheck.
See 7 Reasons To Get Global Entry (Instead of TSA PreCheck)!
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I’ll be the cleared normal security because pilots working for non-US air carriers cannot “bypass security”.
All he did was cut to the front of the security line!