A retired Air Canada pilot flew hundreds of flights for over 16 years without ever acquiring a legit pilot’s licence required for being a captain and is now facing criminal charges, according to Canadian police.
The pilot, Geoffrey Wall, was arrested earlier this month on June 1.
According to investigators, between 2009 to 2025, Wall piloted over 900 flights, both domestic and international, but he never obtained a proper licence or completed mandatory testing, according to a report by CNN.
Peel Regional Police Deputy Chief Milinovich equated the incident to a movie script. During a press conference, he said, “This investigation and the details surrounding it read like a movie script.”
Also read: At least 12 killed in mass shooting in South Africa’s Johannesburg, police launch manhunt
He added that Wall flew Boeing 767s, 777, and 787s when he became the pilot in command at Air Canada and earned around $3 million Canadian dollars in salary.
‘Accused misrepresented qualifications to employer’
Milinovich said that the police believes that Wall was able to manipulate the airline into hiring him by misrepresenting his qualifications to both his employer and the regulator.
While Wall had the licence to fly commercial flights throughout his career with Air Canada spanning 27 years, police said he never acquired an Airline Transport Pilot License for Aeroplanes (ATPL-A), which is a requirement after he was promoted to captain in 2009.
“This is very similar to a doctor that is licensed to practice family medicine but is doing brain surgery in their office,” Milinovich said.
“There’s additional requirements and regulations to professional designations that exist for a reason,” he added.
Track live updates of Iran-US war here
The anomalies in Wall’s qualifications came to light during a routine documentation check in 2025, after which, Air Canada notified regulators.
Wall retired in 2025 before the investigation began.
What Air Canada said
The airline said that it removed the pilot from active duty once it was discovered that he did not posses required licensing and maintained that through the years Wall was flying, passenger safety was not compromised.
Also read: OpenAI files for IPO: Why AI giants are racing to Wall Street
“Safety was not compromised by this incident because all pilots at Air Canada undergo mandatory recurrent training every six months to validate their flying competency, including a flight check with a certified Transport Canada check-pilot every 12 months,” Air Canada said in a statement on Monday.
“However, appropriate licensing is an essential layer of the airline industry’s multi-layered approach to safety, so Air Canada takes this matter with utmost seriousness,” the airline added.
It also said that Wall has been fined by Transport Canada for not possessing the correct license to be an aircraft captain, without directly naming him.
According to the CNN report, Wall is facing a fine by Transport Canada. He is also facing seven criminal charges, including fraud and forged documents.