# Frank Abagnale question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 9, 2006, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666 "2006-02-09T07:05:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/61 "2021-05-07T16:36:27Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I think too that back in the day the airlines saw it as a slight benefit to have a pilot deadheading. While it’s very unlikely they’d ever be needed, having “another spare” pilot there in the cockpit was a little bit of extra security in case anything happened. Obviously with 2-3 pilot crews it would be unusual for the deadheading pilot to ever be pressed into service, it was still a minor piece of insurance above and beyond the norm. I think the main rationale why airlines allowed deadheading for pilots from the competition was the expectation of reciprocity. Your own company might be in a similar situation later on, having to urgently have a pilot shuttled to another airport to take over a flight there. That, plus a certain espit de corps within the industry. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/62 "2021-05-07T16:42:22Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > but this is in _Airport_ , the serious (i.e., non-comedy) disaster film that _Airplane_ spoofs. Doh! Of course, **Airport**. Based on the book by Arthur Hailey? IIRC Airplane spoofs “Flight Into Danger” a cheezie “everyone on the plane is sick!” melodrama. But of course is in a class by itself too. The other point IIRC was before Freddie Laker and before Jimmy Carter’s deregulation, flights were expensive. There’s a reason why people would take the Greyhound bus all the way across the USA. $80 by bus or $600 by air - back when $600 was real money. So flying was already upscale, not a race to the bottom for customer service that it is today. I always wondered - if someone could get hold of blanks of the fancy multipart tickets that all airlines used, could you fake your own tickets, would that work long enough to get through a flight. (“I’m not in the computer? Must be a scheduling error”.) Computer security experts, and hackers, have always recognized that social engineering was the quickest way around many security provisions. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/63 "2021-05-07T17:24:32Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > IIRC Airplane spoofs “Flight Into Danger” a cheezie “everyone on the plane is sick!” melodrama. > But of course is in a class by itself too. Actually the spoofed movie is “Zero Hour!” (co-written by Arthur Hailey, as was “Flight into Danger”). ETA: Apparently “Flight into Danger” was a TV movie which served as the basis for “Zero Hour!”, with Scotty as Ted Stryker: > _Zero Hour!_ was an adaptation of Hailey’s original 1956 teleplay, _Flight into Danger_ starring James Doohan as Ted Stryker. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/64 "2021-05-07T21:31:15Z")
ha ha! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2021, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/65 "2021-05-08T09:05:54Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I think too that back in the day the airlines saw it as a slight benefit to have a pilot deadheading. While it’s very unlikely they’d ever be needed, having “another spare” pilot there in the cockpit was a little bit of extra security in case anything happened. Obviously with 2-3 pilot crews it would be unusual for the deadheading pilot to ever be pressed into service, it was still a minor piece of insurance above and beyond the norm. [Once in awhile it can pay off.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2021, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/66 "2021-05-08T09:07:27Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > I always wondered - if someone could get hold of blanks of the fancy multipart tickets that all airlines used, could you fake your own tickets, would that work long enough to get through a flight. (“I’m not in the computer? Must be a scheduling error”.) Absolutely it would work. I’m sure it was even done. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/67 "2021-07-01T21:45:31Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Until the 80’s you could walk up to the gate to say goodbye to loved ones. I think this was up until 9/10/01. I met Mrs. Cad’s plane at the gate with our daughter as late as 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2021, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/68 "2021-07-01T21:47:33Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Once in awhile it can pay off. [Excellent video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=099cHWSbAL8) on how crew management saved as many lives as possible… ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/69 "2021-07-02T13:03:14Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > [@md-2000](#): > > > > Until the 80’s you could walk up to the gate to say goodbye to loved ones. > > I think this was up until 9/10/01. I met Mrs. Cad’s plane at the gate with our daughter as late as 2000. Maybe in some places. By the early 90’s there was a security checkpoint looking for weapons to get ino the boarding gates area. You could only get in with a boarding pass. I remember shutting down the Calgary airport for a while. I’d bought a crystal suncatcher star as a gift for the wife of a friend because she was checking on my house while I was on vacation. My carry-on went through the x-ray, then they stopped everything and called for the RCMP. Apparently, they saw a ninja throwing star; those and nunchuks are illegal weapons in Canada. I explained what it was, but as security guards they were forbidden to dig into luggage for or handle restricted weapons. A few minutes later the RCMP arrived, verified what it was, and they could open the security station and allow people into the boarding gates area again. As I recall, this was a reaction to the risk of hijackings following the Olympics and other political hijackings in Europe. Usually, arriving passengers exit into the same secure area as boarding passengers unless they are heading through customs. I suppose some airports may have been different. I recall some small town airports had no security until 9/11 but then, you did not get to exit into the secured boarding area at your destination. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/70 "2021-07-02T13:07:56Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Maybe in some places. By the early 90’s there was a security checkpoint looking for weapons to get ino the boarding gates area. You could only get in with a boarding pass. This was LAX. I’m not going to say I predicted 9/11 but in 2000, going to meet my wife’s plane at the gate, my daughter’s stroller set off the metal detectors (of course). Security didn’t even check it out just waved us through. I remember think how lousy the security was and all you need is a baby in a stroller and you could get anything on a plane. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/71 "2021-07-02T13:40:20Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Maybe in some places. By the early 90’s there was a security checkpoint looking for weapons to get ino the boarding gates area. You could only get in with a boarding pass. I took my friends to the airport a number of times in the late 90’s, even once in 2000, and in that time, they had a set of metal detectors and an x-ray machine, but anyone could go through. Unless I was just dropping them off at the curb, I would go in with them and wait at the gate until they were called for boarding. I remember many complaints after 9/11 that spouses or parents wouldn’t be able to see their loved ones off. _Way_ back, when my mother would fly places, they would let us actually down the gate into the plane. I remember seeing the cockpit and talking to the pilots. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I remember think how lousy the security was and all you need is a baby in a stroller and you could get anything on a plane. Of course, the 9/11 hijackers used objects that were allowed on planes anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/72 "2021-07-02T17:19:55Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > [@md-2000](#): > > > > Until the 80’s you could walk up to the gate to say goodbye to loved ones. > > I think this was up until 9/10/01. I met Mrs. Cad’s plane at the gate with our daughter as late as 2000. True on September 10, 2001; I dropped someone off at the airport that morning and accompanied them to the gate. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/73 "2021-07-02T17:32:28Z")
I’ve said in the past that there’s no reason to believe that Frank Abagnale actually pulled off all the cons he claimed to have done. By his own admission, he’s a con man. And it’s a lot easier to con people by writing a book claiming you did things than it is to con a bunch of different companies into actually letting you do all those things. Several of the businesses where Abagnale claims he successfully impersonated employees have said that the events he described never happened. Abagnale has said they’re covering things up to protect their reputation. Which means the only evidence we have for believing these events happened is trusting Frank Abagnale when he says they happened. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/74 "2021-07-03T02:13:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Which means the only evidence we have for believing these events happened is trusting Frank Abagnale when he says they happened. And all the time he spent in jail. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/75 "2021-07-03T02:28:22Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > And all the time he spent in jail. But if you believe Frank Abagnale, he got away with his impersonations the overwhelming majority of the time. If you go by what can be independently verified, he committed a handful of small-time cons and was generally caught. Then he made up stories about the dozens of big-time cons he supposedly committed successfully. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2021, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/76 "2021-07-03T03:42:54Z")
Honestly, what evidence are you all going by that says he didn’t do what he said? “Well, he’s a conman” just isn’t that convincing a rebuttal. Is it just because you don’t like him? All the cool kids say he’s lying, so it must be? I’m not a butt hurt fanboy, I don’t really care. I’m not defending him, but I don’t find his stories that hard to believe, either. But this revisionism seems petty. We set up our “heroes”, and then we knock them down. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/77 "2021-07-05T21:09:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > True on September 10, 2001; I dropped someone off at the airport that morning and accompanied them to the gate. Out of curiosity - where did they screen passengers there? Was it part of the boarding gate? Or did they simply not screen for weapons at all? Or did they allow non-passengers to also go through the security screen? (Certainly some airports did screen, since the 9/11 hijackers were reduced to using boxcutters). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/78 "2021-07-05T21:13:39Z")
I had to empty my pockets at the security checkpoint, including a Swiss Army knife with a two-inch blade. But everything went back in my pockets after. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2021, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/79 "2021-07-05T21:27:40Z")
My memory isn’t great - but I think they just used hand-held screeners on everyone who entered the airport, much like they did in other places at the time. And it wasn’t done by TSA, which didn’t exist yet - either the airline or the airport was responsible for screening. It didn’t involve taking shoes and belts off and so on , and I doubt there were so many non-passengers going to the gate that allowing them to go through the screening process would add much time - after all, even [now](https://www.travelbinger.com/you-can-pass-airport-security-legally-without-a-boarding-pass/) a non-passenger can go through the screening and escort a passenger to the gate under certain circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2021, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666/80 "2021-07-05T21:31:29Z")
In my case, I went through the metal detector at the security checkpoint. And of course the hijackers had boxcutter knives in their carry-on baggage. So things were obviously different. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frank-abagnale-question/343666.md?page=5)