By 3 News staff
Police have made three more arrests in the WANNA-BEn pilot impersonation scandal.
A 27-year-old cameraman, a 40-year-old sound recordist and a 24-year-old production coordinator have been arrested and charged with offences under Section 56A of the Civil Aviation Act.
The total number of arrests in the case, which involved an attempted security breach at Auckland’s International Airport domestic terminal on Saturday, is now at six.
Already charged are The Rock radio DJ Bryce Casey, 32, who allegedly posed as a pilot and tried to gain access to a restricted area, and WANNA-BEn star, Ben Boyce, 33, and producer Andrew Robinson, 26.
Those arrested this morning will appear in the Counties Manukau District Court this afternoon.
Police say they are not looking for anyone else linked to the investigation.
Boyce last night told 3 News the prank was meant to be harmless.
“He [Casey] doesn’t look like a pilot, he’s unshaven, he’s got tattoos, we didn’t have any ID, he just went up and said ‘I’m flying the next plane out of here,’ and they pick holes through the story because he had no ID and he had no idea what gate or what flight he was on,” says Boyce, who had the idea for the prank.
The penalty for the trio – if found guilty – is up to 12 months in prison or a possible $10,000 fine.
Boyce posted an apology on the WANNA-BEn Facebook page and Twitter account this morning.
"We want to apologise for any alarm that was caused by our "pilot" skit. We’ve been doing skits for over nine years, but this time we crossed the line and we fully accept that.
"There was never any intention to cause trouble at the airport. Nor was it our intention for Bryce to breach security. On Sunday when we saw that the police were looking for us we called them immediately.
"Obviously we have learnt from this incident and will put more thought into the skits that we are going to film.
"We do take this very seriously, and if I looked like I was smiling, it was only because I was nervous and a bit overwhelmed by the events of the day. From here we will not be making any further comment."
Until they appear in court again next month, none of those charged are allowed to go near the airport.
The Airline Pilots' Association has called for them to be jailed.
"Incarceration for a short time, for a time of reflection, would be appropriate I would think," aviation security co-ordinator Paul Lyons said yesterday.
"If these people think that security matters are to be treated in a frivolous and humorous fashion, and for an attempted breach to occur on the basis of humour, we don't see that in a humorous way at all."
“It's irresponsible for a bunch of clowns who should know better," Prime Minister John Key told reporters yesterday.
"Quite frankly we're in the middle of hosting a Rugby World Cup and if these are people playing games, they need to grow up."
Grow up is exactly what Boyce plans to do. He says he'll be more cautious of the next skit he plans.
“We're sorry that we caused alarm and we hope that people don’t get full cavity searched when they travel all thanks to us,” he says.
"As soon as we found out the police were investigating, we got in touch with them."
Mediaworks, which runs the WANNA-BEn series said this morning despite the charges, it will run the show as planned this week. This was before news broke of the second trio's arrest.
It's still unknown whether the skit in question will make it on television.
3 News