A former Air Canada pilot has been arrested for flying with a fake license for 17 years. Canadian police arrested him on Tuesday after filing a criminal case in the incident.
Investigators found that accused Jeffrey Wall operated more than 900 domestic and international flights between 2009 and 2025 without the required license and without any mandatory tests.
“This incident looks like something out of a movie,” Peel Regional Police Deputy Chief Milinovich said at a news conference in Ontario. Wall was promoted to pilot in command and flew Boeing 767s, 777s and 787s for nearly 17 years. During this time, he took home a salary of around C$3 million (over US$2 million).
The incident is reminiscent of the famous 2002 Hollywood movie ‘Catch Me If You Can’, where a teenager pretended to be a PanAm Airlines pilot with a false identity.
Jeffrey Wall has worked for Air Canada for 27 years and holds a commercial pilot’s license. But police said when he was promoted to captain in 2009, he was required to have an ‘airline transport pilot’s licence’, or ATPL, which he did not have.
“It’s like a doctor who has a general medical license but is doing brain surgery in his chamber,” said Deputy Chief Milinovich. He further said that the accused had presented false information about his qualifications to both his employer and the regulatory body.
In 2025, during a routine check of pilot documents, major irregularities in Jeffrey Wall’s license were detected. Air Canada authorities then reported the matter to the regulatory body. However, Jeffrey retires in 2025 before investigating the incident and the criminal operation Project Icarus begins in January.
In a statement on Monday, Air Canada said passenger safety was not compromised in the incident. This is because all Air Canada pilots are required to undergo mandatory training every six months to prove their proficiency and to undergo a flight check with a certified check-pilot every 12 months. Still, having the right license is an important part of aviation safety, so Air Canada takes it very seriously.
Transport Canada has already fined Jeffrey Wall. He is charged with a total of seven counts of forgery over $5,000, using a forged document and possessing a forged seal. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 29, but it is not known if a lawyer has been hired to represent him.