WING IT: Philippe Jernnard (inset) allegedly tried a Leonardo DiCaprio-style “Catch Me If You Can” ID scam. (
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Catch him if you can — and they did.
Cops busted a French traveler who tried to pull off an action-movie-style con after he posed as a pilot, then sneaked into a US Airways cockpit, police say.
Philippe Jernnard, 60, allegedly donned a phony pilot uniform and sweet-talked his way into the front of the jet — much like famous con man Frank Abagnale, who inspired the flick “Catch Me If You Can,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Police say the Frenchman boarded with a ticket, then sat down in a jump seat behind the captain’s chair before an airline worker discovered something amiss. Jernnard couldn’t provide legitimate pilot verification, so the crew kicked him out of the cockpit and called police.
Jernnard allegedly pulled the wacky stunt after a ticketing agent refused to upgrade his business-class seat on the Palm Beach, Fla.-bound flight Wednesday out of Philadelphia.
“He was irate and became argumentative with the agent before he boarded the plane,” Officer Christine O’Brien told The Post.
Airline workers then took a head count and realized a ticketed passenger was missing from the business-class section of the plane, O’Brien said.
Jernnard, who lives in La Rochelle, France, was dressed in a black jacket with an Air France logo, complete with four gold stripes on each shoulder and a white button-down shirt.
He was carrying a poorly crafted, makeshift crew badge and told pilots that he flew 747 jets for Air France, cops said.
The bizarre move mirrors the scams of Abagnale, who for years posed as a Pan Am pilot in order to fly around the world.
His story hit the big screen in 2002, with DiCaprio playing the con artist.
In the movie, DiCaprio makes his way into a jet cockpit by charming the crew and distracting the FBI.
Jernnard wasn’t quite as smooth.
Officers escorted him from the jet and found him in possession of a counterfeit Air France crew-member ID card, cops said.
He was charged him with false impersonation, forgery and trespassing at Philadelphia International Airport.
Cops also charged him with breaking into a structure and tampering with records.
He’s being held on $1 million bail, and federal charges are likely, authorities say.
Pilots can typically ride for free in the jump seat of another airline, but they must notify the airline and the pilots ahead of time.
Pilots review all approved cockpit passengers before takeoff — so Jernnard didn’t stand a chance.