Former Pilot Convicted and Fined $17,500 for Attempting to Ship Concealed Motorcycle

Office of Inspector General

Title:	Former Pilot Convicted and Fined $17,500 for Attempting to Ship Concealed Motorcycle
Date:	December 08, 2003
Type:	Investigation
Summary:	Alexander I. Eskin of Honolulu, HI, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Albany, NY, to filing a false report regarding a hazardous material shipment, for which he was fined a $5,000 criminal penalty and $12,500 civil penalty. Eskin was a pilot for Northwest Airlines, when in June 2001 he tried to air ship a used motorcycle concealed in a box from Albany to Michigan. In two phone conversations with the shipper the previous day, he was told he would have to declare the motorcycle as hazardous material (hazmat) because it contained gasoline and oil. Nonetheless, Eskin claimed on an airbill that the box did not contain dangerous goods regulated in air transport and also signed a shipper’s security endorsement stating the cargo did not contain hazmat. The motorcycle never was shipped because the box could not fit through the plane’s cargo door.