Fake Garuda Indonesia pilot arrested

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Police arrested a man posing as a pilot for national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia at the airport’s Terminal 3 in Tangerang, Banten, on Friday.

The man, identified as Alvin Adithya Darmawan, was wearing a Garuda pilot uniform when he checked in at the Garuda counter at 11.40am on Friday, Soekarno-Hatta police chief Sr. Comr. Victor Togi Tambunan said. Besides dressing in uniform, Alvin was also reportedly carrying a Garuda air crew ID.

Alvin was seen wandering around the terminal before heading to a security check point when a real Garuda pilot named Andre saw him and became suspicious of Alvin’s behavior.

“Based on his suspicions, captain [Andre] then talked to the man, but he replied with unclear answers,” Victor said as reported by kompas.com on Saturday.

Andre then reported Alvin to flight security personnel near the check point.

Head of the criminal investigation unit at the airport, Comr. James Hasudungan Hutajulu, said Alvin was a passenger on a Garuda flight to Semarang, Central Java. He reportedly told police that he was obsessed with the idea of becoming a pilot.

“When he graduated high school he applied to get into a pilot school but he failed,” James said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Alvin was still detained for questioning as of Friday evening. – The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network