A man who pretended to be a flight attendant for six years is no longer flying high.
Florida local Tiron Alexander, 35, was convicted on June 5 of wire fraud and entering into a secure area of an airport by false pretenses, according to a release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 25.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida stated in a June 10 release, “According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from 2018 to 2024, Alexander booked free flights on an airline carrier’s website that were only available to pilots and flight attendants.”
Alexander had worked for a Dallas-based airline company since 2015 but was never a pilot or flight attendant, per the indictment obtained by NBC News. He is accused of booking 120 free flights in total across four airlines by “falsely claiming to be a flight attendant.”
“Alexander claimed through the airline carrier’s website application process—a process that required an applicant to select whether they were a pilot or flight attendant and provide their employer, date of hire, and badge number information,” the release continued, “that he worked for seven different airlines and had approximately 30 different badge numbers and dates of hire.”
As for how Alexander made it through security? The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) released a statement explaining he went through all airport security procedures, per NBC News.
For more air-travel related incidents this year, read on.
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
For more air-travel related incidents this year, read on.
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
Jan. 29: American Airlines Flight 5342 Collides With Army Black Hawk Helicopter
An American Airlines-owned American Eagle jet was approaching the runway at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., just before 9 p.m. ET when it collided with an Army Black Hawk Helicopter, killing everyone aboard both aircraft.
The jet was carrying four crew members and 60 passengers, including a number of athletes returning from a national figure skating camp in Wichita, Kan.
President Donald Trump called it a “dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital.”
The helicopter with three military personnel aboard was last tracked by air traffic control to be traveling at 300 feet, though the customary ceiling under FAA rules near that airport is 200 feet, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The jet’s last logged altitude, per the aircraft tracking site FlightAware, was 375 feet.
The crash remains under investigation.
“We look at the human, the machine and the environment,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters Jan. 30. “We will look at all the humans that were involved in this accident. We will look at the aircraft. We will look at the helicopter. We will look at the environment in which they were operating in. That is standard.”
It was the first deadly commercial airline crash on U.S. soil since Colgan Flight 3407 crashed into a Buffalo, N.Y.-area house in 2009, killing all 49 aboard and one person on the ground.
Jan. 31: Medical Transport Jet Crashes in Philadelphia
A Learjet 55 operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance crashed on a street in northeast Philadelphia just after 6 p.m. ET.
All six people aboard the jet—a child who, according to Jet Rescue, had just completed treatment for a life-threatening condition, her mother, a doctor, a paramedic and two pilots—were killed, as was a 37-year-old man who was driving at the time.
The plane had been in the air for less than a minute after taking off at 6:06 p.m. when the crash occurred, according to FlightAware. It was due to stop in Branson, Mo., and then return the patient and her mom home to Mexico.
“She fought quite a lot to survive,” Jet Rescue spokesperson Shai Gold said, “and unfortunately, this tragedy on the way home.”
The crash remains under investigation, per NTSB. A preliminary report released by the agency March 6, per NBC Philadelphia, states that the cockpit voice recorder, or “black box,” didn’t capture any audio from the flight and likely hadn’t worked for several years.
Feb. 6: Small Plane Crash in Alaska Kills 10
Nine passengers were headed from Unalakleet, Ala., to Nome, about 140 miles away, when their Bering Air Cessna Caravan went down about 40 minutes into the flight.
Three bodies were discovered Feb. 7 amid wreckage found approximately 34 miles southeast of Nome, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, which noted at the time that they believed the remaining seven, including the pilot, were “inside the aircraft, which was inaccessible due to the condition of the plane.”
Calling Alaska “a big small town,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in a statement, “When tragedy strikes, we’re never far removed from the Alaskans directly impacted. But that also means we come together as a community to grieve and heal.”
The NTSB said it would be investigating the crash.
Feb. 10: Vince Neil’s Learjet Involved in Fatal Collision
One person was killed when a Learjet 35A owned by Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil collided with a parked plane (later identified as a Gulfstream G-200) when it veered from the runway while trying to land at Arizona’s Scottsdale Airport at 2:39 p.m. local time, according to a statement from Nashville-based attorney Worrick Robinson IV.
Neil was not onboard at the time.
His lawyer called it “a rapidly evolving situation” under “ongoing investigation,” adding, “Mr. Neil’s thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved, and he is grateful for the critical aid of all first responders assisting today.”
There were four aboard the Learjet and the FAA later confirmed the pilot had died, while the co-pilot and one passenger were seriously injured.
Per WMTV 15 News, a preliminary report released March 3 by the NTSB stated that surveillance and cell phone video footage of the incident showed the jet’s rear left landing gear in an “askew” position as it approached the runway in Scottsdale.
The report also noted that the same flight crew had reported an issue landing in McAlester, Okla., on June 20, 2024.
The pilot hired a mechanic who performed maintenance, the report detailed, and additional maintenance was conducted on the plane in December. A mechanic who serviced the landing gear noted that “nothing appeared unusual,” the report stated, but the left landing gear “took an excessive amount of grease.”
Feb. 17: Delta Jet Crash Lands in Toronto and Flips Over
Delta Flight 4819, originating from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, crash-landed upside down at Toronto Pearson International Airport and burst into flames with 80 people aboard.
Everyone survived, and 21 people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Toronto Pearson president and CEO Deborah Flint.
“All of a sudden, I just remember being fully sideways,” passenger Pete Koukov said on TODAY Feb. 18. “I was looking down and just seeing like sparks and flames and whatever was grinding against the ground. It happened pretty dang quick and we were just upside down, hanging from our seat belts.”
Ultimately, he added, “Everyone got off in a pretty orderly fashion. It didn’t seem too insane once the plane had stopped and everyone realized, for the most part, they were OK because no one was seriously injured.”
Flint said the incident had occurred in clear conditions and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada was investigating.
Feb. 19: Private Planes Collide at Arizona Airport, Killing 2
A Lancair 360 MK II and a Cessna 172S, both small single-engine planes, collided midair around 8:30 a.m. MT at Marana Regional Airport, near Tucson, Ariz.
The Cessna “landed uneventfully,” while the Lancair “impacted terrain near runway 3 and a post-impact fire ensued,” killing at least two people, the NTSB said in a statement.
According to the FAA, two people were aboard each plane and a man and a woman on the Lancair were later identified as the deceased.
“On behalf of the Town of Marana and the Marana Regional Airport, our hearts go out to all the individuals and families impacted by this event,” Marana Regional Airport Superintendent Galen Beem said in a statement, per AZFamily. “This is an unprecedented event, and we are grateful for the swift response from the Marana Police Department and Northwest Fire District.”
March 1: FedEx Plane Engine Catches Fire After Colliding With Bird
FedEx Flight 3609, headed from Newark to Indianapolis, struck a bird shortly after takeoff and had to make an emergency landing.
While footage of the incident showing the Boeing 767 shooting flames was dramatic, the plane landed safely at Newark Liberty International Airport at 8:07 a.m. ET and the three people aboard the cargo flight were uninjured.
“Our B767 crew declared an emergency and returned safely to Newark after dealing with the resulting engine damage, including an engine fire,” FedEx said in a statement to NBC News, noting they were thankful for the “quick actions” of the crew and first responders.
Aviation expert John Cox told NBC News that aircrafts such as the Boeing 767 are certified to fly on one engine in case the other fails.
“Now, it’s just like any other mechanical failure of an engine, you’re down to a single engine operation,” Cox said. “There are procedures for that, and pilots train for it, and it results in a safe landing.”
March 29: Small Plane Crashes Into Minnesota Home
A single-jet aircraft, piloted by U.S. Bank vice chair Terry Dolan, crashed into a two-person home in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.
That same day, Brooklyn Park Fire Chief Shawn Conway confirmed at a news conference that there were no survivors, adding that it wasn’t clear how many people how many people were aboard the plane.
Dolan was confirmed dead two days later by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner due to “multiple blunt force injuries.”
And the residents of the home—which was engulfed in a massive fire after impact—Kenneth Tobacman and his wife Mary Butler have since recounted the terrifying experience from their perspective.
“All of a sudden there’s a big boom,” Kenneth said on Good Morning America. “The lights went out, and I saw a flash. Sparks or something, or a little bit of smoke. I thought, ‘What the hell?’”
