Frank Abagnale — the “Catch Me If You Can” con man played by Leonardo DiCaprio[1] — will recall his exploits posing as a Pan Am pilot at an event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the first American commercial jet flight.
Abagnale will speak Saturday at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, LI, to open an exhibit on the Boeing 707.
“Frank posed as a Pan Am pilot, but never actually flew a Pan Am plane,” a former executive of the airline told me.
Abagnale, who has been working with the FBI for more than 40 years, “deadheaded” (i.e., with no paying passengers or freight) on more than 250 flights of other airlines.
Also expected is Daniel Hopkins, who was 7 when his Ohio family entered a Kellogg’s Corn Flakes contest and won a trip to Paris on Pan Am’s inaugural 707 flight. The family had never been on a train before, let alone a plane.
References
- ^ Leonardo DiCaprio (pagesix.com)