A Japanese airline pilot was arrested today on suspicion of stealing jumbo jet flight operation manuals and flight crew uniforms that were later offered for sale on the Internet.
Kosuke Yasue (42), a pilot at All Nippon Airlines (ANA), Japan's second-ranked carrier, is suspected of taking six flight operation manuals, including one for Boeing B747-400s, from a study room used by ANA staff at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in January, police said.
He sold the manuals, along with uniforms for a pilot and co-pilot, to an aircraft goods shop for 500,000 yen (€3,700), and they were offered for sale on the Internet, the spokesman said.
Mr Yasue told police he needed the money, the spokesman said.
ANA itself bought back the manuals via the Internet after discovering they were missing, he said, but it was not known what had happened to the uniforms.
"The manuals would not enable you to completely operate a plane without some basic knowledge of aviation, but they could allow you to perform some basic manoeuvres," the police spokesman said.
The allegation came amid heightened security in Japan in the wake of warnings that al-Qaeda could be preparing to attack an Asian city at the start of Japan's general election campaign.