Pilot Ignores Fake Controller’s Orders

Someone posing as an air traffic controller illegally instructed an Air France pilot to dump fuel over Japan’s capital, Tokyo, and fly at a dangerously low altitude. The pilot ignored both commands, which he said sounded strange, and landed safely at Tokyo’s international airport in Narita. A Transport Ministry official said the fake commands were on a radio frequency for communications used by air traffic controllers. Air traffic communication frequencies are published in specialized manuals, although their unauthorized use is illegal.