Air Canada pilot accused of flying for 17 years without proper licence

Describing an elaborate ruse that “read like a movie script”, Canadian authorities accused a long-time Air Canada pilot of fraud on Tuesday, saying he had flown many hundreds of hours over 17 years despite not having the proper credential to sit in the captain’s seat.

The pilot, Geoff Wall, 59, faces seven charges, including fraud over $US5000 ($7000), forging documents and public mischief. The charges were brought by the Peel Regional Police Department in Ontario, which has jurisdiction over the Toronto Pearson International Airport, an Air Canada hub.

Wall, who retired last year before the investigation, held some valid flight credentials, but did not have an Airline Transport Pilot Licence from the federal regulator, Transport Canada, which is required to fly as a captain, according to Canadian authorities. Despite this, he was the captain for 900 flights between 2009 and 2025. Transport Canada said it had conducted an investigation and issued fines, but did not provide specific details.

Authorities said Wall, of Barrie, Ontario, was underqualified while being responsible for the safety of hundreds of unsuspecting Air Canada passengers at a time.

“This is very similar to a doctor that is licensed to practice family medicine but is doing brain surgery in their office,” said Nick Milinovich, a deputy chief of the Peel Regional Police.

Wall’s conduct became suspicious when he presented dubious credentials during a routine regulatory check at his home airport, Toronto Pearson, in March 2025, said Chad Michell, a detective with the Peel Regional Police. That set in motion an inquiry by Canadian transportation regulators and later the criminal investigation, which authorities called Project Icarus.

Transport Canada requires a passing score on three written tests and 1500 hours of flight time to obtain the licence.

John Gradek, a faculty lecturer in aviation management at McGill University, argued that Transport Canada and Air Canada should both be held accountable for passing Wall through routine checks to fly if he did not have the proper licensing.

“He was an excellent pilot,” Gradek said. “That doesn’t mean he was OK to fly.”

Air Canada said in a statement that passenger “safety was not compromised” by Wall’s actions because pilots are put through flight training every six months. Wall had “successfully met or exceeded the required recurrent training, demonstrating a high level of competency to safely operate large aircraft”, according to the airline, which employed him for 27 years.

“However, appropriate licensing is an essential layer of the