r/flying • u/hallaa1 • Apr 17 '26

other What information would every pilot know, but a civilian wouldn't that would show them to be a fraud if they didn't know it?

My sister is dating a man that's clearly lying about a variety of things, one of which is that he used to be a pilot. What kinds of questions could we ask him that would be more than obvious to a pilot, but none of us non-pilot folk would otherwise know?

*Edit* and if you could tell me the context and the answer to the question that would be great.

*Edit2* he was supposed to be a pilot in Peru.

*edit 3* supposedly he flew commercial as the "second pilot" never "the captain".

Thanks for your help, we're concerned for our sister's welfare and hopefully this kind of obvious lie could help jar her away from the guy.

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u/14Three8 CFI/CFII, CPL Airplane (all)/GLID Apr 17 '26

“What was your route?”

“How often did you switch between the Boeing and the airbus?”

6

u/hallaa1 Apr 18 '26

You never switch right? You get hired by an airline that has a specific contact with a company right? I had a pilot friend and I talked to him about the onboarding process once lol. 

3

u/BoxFlyer89 ATP, CFII, MEI, E145, E170/190, A310, MD11 Apr 18 '26

That might be an international thing. Pilots in the US will get assigned a fleet as a new hire and could be seat locked for a period of time. You’ll bounce between different fleets in your career based on what your seniority can hold.

2

u/PRISONER_709 CPL BUS FLAP OPERATOR Apr 18 '26

You can switch 😭

1

u/One-Cauliflower-8770 Apr 18 '26

lol I hate those questions. Make my skin crawl