From cockpit to prison; airline pilot jailed after abusing 12-year-old girl
A British Airways pilot has been jailed after raping a 12-year-old girl he met on social media.
Kwame Yeboah has spent the past three years working for the carrier and two years as a first officer pilot based at Heathrow airport.
But his career came crashing to the ground in April when Yeboah pleaded guilty to three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.
The 30-year-old was arrested after Merseyside Police launched an investigation into claims he raped a 12-year-old girl he met on Instagram in February.
He first made contact with the child online in late 2025 and she initially told him she was 17.
Yeboah sent his victim X-rated images of himself and the conversations became increasingly sexual.
The Crown Prosecution Service said he called her about two times a week – making her believe she was important to him.
In February 2026, he travelled hundreds of miles from Reading to Merseyside to meet the child, who was clearly underage by her appearance.
The Crown said it would have been “obvious” that the victim was a very young child.
He drove the 12-year-old around before taking her to an isolated location, where he raped her three times.
A few days later, a friend of the victim told her mum what had happened and she contacted the police.
Police identified Yeboah using details he had given to the young girl.
When arrested and interviewed, Yeboah, of Reading, answered “no comment” to all questions.
He pleaded guilty to rape and sexual assault, and was given a 15-year restraining order.
After he was jailed for nine years and four months at Liverpool Crown Court, Senior Crown Prosecutor Thomas Hanlon, of the CPS, said: “Kwame Yeboah would have known early on in his contact with this child that she was not the age she initially claimed to be.
“She spoke about school and sent images of herself in school uniform. When he met her in person, it would have been obvious that she was a very young child.
“Despite this, Yeboah deliberately took her to an isolated location where he raped her three times.
“He groomed the victim into believing she was in a relationship with someone who cared about her. In reality, he was an adult man who abused his position and exploited her for his own sexual gratification.”
Yeboah previously boasted about his career on social media accounts including Instagram.
Smiling for the camera, he posed in his pilot uniform at the top of some steps with a BA plane tail in the background with the caption “I love when they say I can’t go higher, I’m a frequent flyer!”
He is also understood to have played basketball for more than 17 years and was a referee at BasketballEngland.
In March 2023 while working for West Atlantic, Yeboah gave an interview to a trade mag in which he told why he wanted to be a pilot.
He said: “My passion for flying stemmed from my first flight on a British Airways aircraft from Ghana to the United Kingdom.
“I was eight years old at the time and on a visit, with my brother, to see my parents who had emigrated from Ghana.
“I had the opportunity to meet the pilots and see the flight deck. This was a surreal experience and I was fascinated by how it all worked.
“This was the moment that I knew I wanted to be a commercial pilot and started to apply for pilot jobs.”
A BA spokesperson said: “We’ve been sickened to hear of the despicable actions of this individual and we can only imagine the pain he has inflicted.
“All of our thoughts are and will remain with the young person and their family as they try to repair the unthinkable damage and hurt they have suffered.”
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