In an article about the incident in the South China Morning Post, Rebecca Sy, chairperson of the carrier’s flight attendants’ association, said the male passenger was on board flight KA691 to Penang on March 31 when the crew suspected that something was amiss about him.
According to the news report, the individual wore what appeared to be a pilot’s uniform i.e. white shirt with shoulder epaulettes, a pair of black pants and a black tie. His luggage tags and lanyard also featured the logos of Cathay Pacific, Drangonair’s parent company.
His disguise however was given away when he ordered a Bloody Mary, a cocktail not on the menu, a small detail that someone who claimed to be a pilot should have been aware of. Later when asked by the crew, the man could not produce a staff number.
Convinced he was an impostor, the crew refused to allow him near the cockpit despite his explanation that he had just manned a flight from San Francisco and wanted to speak with the pilot when the plane touched down in Penang.
After being carted-off the plane by security personnel, an overnight search of the aircraft was immediately conducted.
The report said it was not immediately known if the man was charged by Malaysian police. What was revealed however was that the suspect did have a previous record of impersonating pilots.
Dragonair would not release further details of the incident, citing the ongoing investigation by police.
According to the South China Morning Post, police have yet to make any arrests.