Fake pilot jailed for forging licence & flying into Gatwick

A conman who regularly flew commercial aircraft in and out of Gatwick Airport was grounded today for the foreseeable future.

Michael Fay, aged 61, from Alton in Hampshire will be spending the next three years in prison. He had failed to turn up for sentencing earlier this year.

The former American air force pilot forged his papers to get a job with an airline based in Libya. He was caught when another pilot became suspicious. As Kerry Swain reports from Winchester Crown Court, the case has certain parallels with the story in the Hollywood movie 'Catch Me If You Can'.

The interviewee in the report is Detective Constable Chris Thorne from Hampshire Police.