Air France flight attendant arrested for stealing from passengers on flights to Tokyo
PARIS —
A flight attendant with Air France has been arrested after passengers heading to Japan and other parts of Asia lost jewelry and cash from hand baggage while they slept, French officials said Wednesday.
The female cabin crew member was arrested at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport last Sunday and has confessed to theft, a judicial source said, confirming a report in the daily Le Figaro.
According to the newspaper report, the 47-year-old woman went through business passengers’ bags on long haul flights out of Paris. She told police that she had committed around 150 thefts since March 2009.
Police were alerted in January after five passengers on a flight to Tokyo lost the equivalent of 4,000 euros ($5,145) in foreign currency.
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23 Comments
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jforce
Sneaky old air-waitress. I'm surprised we don't see more of these reports. I'll bet there's a whole ring of theft throughout the airports and such.
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NationalistRE
Who cares about the theft, why was this mutton dressed as lamb allowed to serve on board in the first place?
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JA_Cruise
guess they were not paying her enough...
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gaijinfo
Stealing is wrong, and shame on her, but when traveling internationally, it's kind of foolish to stick your money or belongings anywhere other than safely concealed on your person.
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mrsynik
So you're not safe in their planes for fear of their safety record and now fear of being ripped off by one of their boiler stewardesses? I think I'll be avoiding Air France like I avoid eating snails.
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some14some
Thank God finally they found the thief, it has been going on for some time and last i read about such theft was flight from Tokyo to Paris (few months back).
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nandakandamanda
Whoa, I flew Air France last year!
Well, at least she wasn't stealing their underwear, so she's normal, so that must be good I guess.
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bicultural
Well, the flight attendants will have to fight through my kung fu grip to steal my money.
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betterdays
Robbina Woodess
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seaforte03
Wait until they open their checked baggage...see what's missing then!!
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Klein2
Can you believe someone stole a pen from my pocket while I slept? Nice pen, too. One of those expensive ones. Very very low crime. Heinous. I woke up, looked around, and realized that it could have been anybody. Goodbye pen.
Flying. Sheesh.
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the_sicilian
If this were underwear theft, the J-Police would investigate it.
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maglev101
47 yr old stewardess?!?
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Fadamor
Yes. A 47-year-old flight attendant. They aren't allowed to fire them once they reach 25 anymore. (It seems the flight attendants claimed age discrimination or some such nonsense) ;-)
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Sarge
Hey, she needed the money! LOL!
@Klein2- You probably just dropped the pen or left it somewhere.
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Klein2
Na Sarge. It was there, actually in my breast pocket all shiny and clipped in nerd-fashion. I nodded off, woke up, and it was gone. It was not likely a stewardess. It was klepto lady on my right, or secret snoozer pickpocket on my left. What do you do? You can't accuse everybody. I had to finish the flight knowing full well someone was getting away with it. I liked that pen more than they ever did.
You are right about her needing the money though. I guess 150 thefts of say, 200 bucks each is 30 thousand bucks. Still, having a few extra years of income from work and not having a criminal record are worth something too.
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masterkun05
Its not whats missing in my baggage be it carry on or checked in that would bother me.............its what they may have added. Anyway the French and the Italians have petty theft and pilfering down to an art form and practice it with a genius like level of expertise. I am almost in admiration. Its something to behold.
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Patrick Smash
I'm surprised she didn't surrender herself more quickly.
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Patrick Smash
Klein2, to answer your question, no, I cannot really believe someone bothered to steal a pen out of your breast pocket while you were asleep. It may well have rolled 10 rows back on you after falling out of your pocket. That is more likely. But a theft is not impossible.
When people fly, there are great riches in hand luggage. Why would we assume all 400 people on the plane are completely honest? We are encouraged to put all our valuables in hand luggage, which sometimes flight crews move out of our sight. Some people are carrying thousands of dollars in cash as well as jewellery etc. We wouldn't leave our valuables in unlocked storage in hotels and fall asleep, so why do so many people do it on aircraft?
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mikihouse
thefts occurred in the business class where passangers are deemed to be richer and with more cash. Of course not to mention that the passengers are more relaxed. If a passenger come checking the overhead compartment some people might take notice but if a flight attendant comes over, she doesn't arouse much suspiscion because its her job to check these items if they are properly stowed...Whats next? A terrorist stewardess?
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