An airline pilot was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of stealing jumbo jet flight operation manuals and flight crew uniforms that were later offered for sale on the Internet, police said.
The allegation came amid heightened security in Japan in the wake of warnings that al-Qaida could be preparing to attack an Asian city and at the start of Japan’s general election campaign.
Kosuke Yasue, 42, a pilot at All Nippon Airlines Co. Ltd., Japan’s second-ranked carrier, is suspected of taking six flight operation manuals, including one for Boeing B747-400s, from a study room used by ANA staff at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in January, a police spokesman said.
Yasue sold the manuals, along with uniforms for a pilot and co-pilot, to an aircraft goods shop for 500,000 yen ($4,515), and they were offered for sale on the Internet, the spokesman said.
Yasue told police he needed the money, the spokesman said.
ANA itself bought back the manuals via the Internet after discovering they were missing, he said, but it was not known what had happened to the uniforms.
“The manuals would not enable you to completely operate a plane without some basic knowledge of aviation, but they could allow you to perform some basic maneuvers,” he said.
“We view this as a potentially dangerous situation, one we have not seen before,” he added.
In a statement, ANA called the situation was “extremely regrettable,” adding that Yasue would be dealt with severely and that security at its study room had been tightened.
