A Hard Landing After Flying High on Fake Wings

Edward Forrest Ingram dazzled women in his pilot’s uniform, breezed through Los Angeles International Airport security untouched and once talked his way into the cockpit of a plane.

And just in case anyone asked, the 42-year-old Ingram was prepared to flash glowing letters of recommendation from the Federal Aviation Administration commending his valor as a fighter pilot.

Trouble was, he wasn’t a pilot.

Police said Capt. Ingram was just one of 14 identities the serial impersonator has used over the last 12 years to steal things.

“I’ve never heard of anyone doing this in real life, only in fiction,” said Paul Hudson, executive director of the Aviation Action Committee, which advises the FAA on airport security. “He sounds like a very dedicated impostor.”

Ingram was arrested Oct. 26, when he was caught selling items allegedly stolen from LAX luggage return carousels for American, KLM and TWA airlines. Dressed as a Delta pilot, police said, he picked up the most expensive suitcases, walked past baggage checkers and then sold items through the eBay on-line auction service or out of his Venice apartment.

When officers raided his home, they said, they found about 250 stolen items, including five sets of golf clubs; pieces of Tumi luggage, at $500 to $700 each; jewelry; leather jackets; and camcorders.

Experts say that although such security breaches are rare, Ingram’s case raises serious concerns at the nation’s third-busiest airport. Using a personal computer and a little ingenuity, Ingram was able to whip up fake airline IDs time and again, police said.

“What’s troubling about the whole situation is that it points to part of the vulnerability of the system,” said Michael Digirolamo, deputy executive director at LAX. “But with 2,100 flights a day, there is potential of something like that happening.”

It has happened with Ingram before. He was arrested twice at LAX, in 1993 and 1996, on suspicion of theft from LAX while impersonating a pilot. Since 1978, police said, he has served jail time throughout the state for making threatening phone calls, receiving stolen property, burglary--and once stealing a private plane in Santa Clara. He has impersonated a doctor and a public official, said police, who have no further details about those instances.

Ingram was released from jail in May after serving three years for the 1996 LAX episode. While still on parole, he returned to the airport, this time posing as a Delta skipper, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Don Tamura.

Witnesses said he groomed his look with a homemade “uniform” of dark pants and a white shirt, complete with a stolen employee bag and pilot’s log. He wore the phony IDs and carried forged commendations on fake FAA letterhead.

One cited his service as an alleged F-15 pilot: “To Capt. Ingram from the FAA: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty during aerial operations against enemy Iraqi forces in North Iraq.”

The deception didn’t stop there, police said. Ingram apparently used his pilot persona to charm various women, whose business cards were found in his belongings.

“One lady who was an executive was really bummed she didn’t get a phone call from him,” said Grace Elder, an investigator at the LAPD airport division. “He likes to brag and tell stories.”

Another woman allegedly sat next to Ingram on a non-Delta flight to Las Vegas in October. She told police that he regaled her with tales of flying and let her glimpse his pilot’s license.

“Next thing she knew, he was up front in the cockpit,” said Elder, adding that Ingram had persuaded flight attendants to open the cockpit door. She said Ingram did not fly that plane and there is no evidence that he tried to do so at Delta either.

Delta officials did not return calls Wednesday seeking comment.

Ingram apparently worked the scam for five months at LAX before he slipped up, police said. Using his real name and address, he sold a stolen piece of luggage to a Santa Monica couple, who then found a card bearing a woman’s phone number inside.

When they called, the woman informed the couple that the luggage had been stolen. Police were called and they arrested Ingram at his apartment, officers said.

Ingram told police he was from Northern California, had lived in San Jose and spent three years at Cal State Fresno. He also said he was enlisted at one time. But, given the number of times Ingram has changed identities, police say they are not sure what is true.

Last week, police filed three counts of grand theft against Ingram. He is scheduled for arraignment in two weeks and faces as much as eight years in prison, Tamura said.

Tamura, a 16-year veteran of the district attorney’s office, said he has seen similar impersonation cases while prosecuting crimes of fraud. The perpetrators “can be very charming and well-educated,” he said. Mostly they just know how to pull off a scam, he said.

“The sad thing is that he hasn’t been deterred, and as soon as he gets out he will continue to do this crime,” he said.