Philippe Jernnard, a 61-year-old retired winemaker from La Rochelle, France was arrested at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) after attempting to travel as a jump seat passenger in the cockpit of a US Airways Airbus A319, operating as flight US-1935, to West Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), Fla., as reported on Friday, March 22, 2013 by CNN International, The Guardian, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and multiple other media sources.
Authorities are investigating Mr. Jernnard's intentions in producing a bogus Air France identification, characterized as "a very bad forgery", and trying to be seated in the cockpit behind the pilots, after he had previously failed to upgrade his seat from coach to business class for the under 3-hour flight.
What is currently known is that the Frenchman was a connecting passenger on US Airways flight US-755, an Airbus A330-300, traveling from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) to Philadelphia, Pa. on Wednesday, March 20, 2013. He was dressed in a white shirt with an Air France logo above his left breast pocket. He was also carrying a black jacket with four gold stripes on the epaulets, similar to a pilot's uniform.
The copilot became suspicious after the passenger seemed puzzled on how to secure his over-the-shoulder seat belt, and the fact that he was not listed on the airline's manifest as assigned to the jump seat.
He was reported to be agitated after he was asked to leave the aircraft and be booked on a later flight, but was not arrested until he was waiting at the departure gate for that next flight.
Local authorities have charged Jernnard with criminal trespass, forgery, records tampering, impersonation of an airline employee, and providing false identification to law enforcement, and are holding him on one million dollars bail. Additional complaints and federal charges are also expected. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday, April 5, 2013.
If convicted, the French citizen could spend many years behind bars. However, it is not unusual for a criminal suspect to initially receive multiple charges which are later reduced to a single offense, after an extensive investigation. For the present, Mr. Jernnard is represented by the Philadelphia public defender's office.
Various media have compared the recent jump seat attempt by Jernnard to the capers of Frank Abagnale, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2002 Steven Spielberg film "Catch Me If You Can". While there are similarities, most observers would agree that the Frenchman lacked the acting skills, charm, and cunning of Mr. DiCaprio.
About one month ago, on February 14, 2013, American Airlines and US Airways Group officially announced that the two companies would merge to form the largest airline in the world. That consolidation is expected to take place in the third quarter of this year, with the combined carrier being called American Airlines.
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