Police to release details of fraud investigation involving Air Canada pilot who allegedly flew without proper licence

Peel police say a former airline captain has been arrested for allegedly piloting hundreds of flights without being properly licensed.

Police will be releasing details Tuesday of an investigation into an airline captain who allegedly piloted hundreds of flights for Air Canada without the proper licence.

Few details have been released about the investigation, dubbed Project Icarus, but it has been described by investigators as a “complex fraud” investigation involving a former airline captain.

In a statement released Monday, Air Canada said safety was “not compromised” by the incident, noting that all pilots “undergo mandatory recurrent training” every six months to “validate their flying competency,” which includes a flight check with a certified Transport Canada check-pilot every year.

“Throughout his employment with Air Canada, the individual in question was a fully trained pilot who held a valid Commercial Pilot Licence, and he successfully met or exceeded the required recurrent training, demonstrating a high level of competency to safely operate large aircraft,” Air Canada said.

The airline did say that the pilot lacked the mandatory airline transport pilot licence, which must be obtained by all captains of large aircrafts operated by airlines in Canada and involves a series a written exams.

Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich and Peel Regional Chair Nando Iannicca are expected to speak at the news conference, which will be held at 11 a.m.

The news conference will be streamed live on CTVNews.ca, the CTV News app, and CP24.com and the CP24 app.

With files from CP24’s Joanna Lavoie