A Texas man was arrested after he boarded a Delta Airlines flight using a photograph of another passenger’s boarding ticket, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Wicliff Yves Fleurizard, 26, was arrested on charges of stowaway on an aircraft after he boarded a Delta Flight at the Salt Lake City International Airport bound for Austin, Texas, on Sunday, according to a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Utah. He was being held at the Salt Lake County Metro Jail, according to the Salt Lake City Police Department.
According to law enforcement authorities, Fleurizard was booked on a Southwest flight leaving Salt Lake City for Austin but was later rebooked after the flight was full. Instead of waiting for the next Southwest flight, he went into the Delta boarding area and was seen on surveillance footage taking photos of the phone screens of multiple passengers, according to KTVX.
He then used one of the photos he had taken to board the Delta flight.
A Texas man is accused of photographing other passengers’ boarding passes to sneak onto a Delta flight from Salt Lake City on Sunday, leading to his arrest on a felony charge after flight attendants recognized suspicious circumstances before takeoff.https://t.co/djogZofjhR
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 21, 2024
Fleurizard entered the lavatory located at the front of the plane after he boarded and spent a “significant amount of time” in it, according to the complaint.
After boarding was completed, Fleurizard made his way to the back lavatory, the Tribune reported.
When Fleurizard came out of that lavatory as the plane had begun to taxi to the runway, a flight attendant noticed that there were no seats available on the plane and asked him which seat was his. Fleurizard told the attendant that he was in seat 21F, but the flight attendant verified that he did not have a boarding pass for that seat, nor did he have a valid ticket or reservation for the flight.
The plane then returned to the gate and Fleurizard was met by law enforcement officials when he left the aircraft.
Officials have not said which boarding pass Fleurizard used to get on the plane, but a Delta gate agent told authorities that a minor female passenger traveling alone had an issue when her boarding pass was scanned. The system showed her pass had already been scanned and she was on board the plane.
Fleurizard was seen in surveillance footage snapping a photo of that girl’s phone, according to The New York Times.
Fleurizard said he did have a ticket to go home to Texas, but it was not with Delta. He said he had been given a Southwest buddy pass ticket for March 16, but there were no available seats on board so he was rebooked for a flight leaving on March 17, according to the Tribune.
Then, the second flight ended up being overbooked as well, so he was rebooked for a flight set for later that same day.
“Fleurizard admitted he had made a mistake and was only trying to get home,” according to the charges filed against him.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said that Fleurizard had been screened at the airport on March 17 without incident using a photo ID that matched the name on the boarding pass.
According to NBC News, Fleurizard has an active warrant out of Austin, Texas, though it’s unclear what the warrant is for.
Delta Air Lines said in a statement that it was “cooperating with law enforcement and relevant federal agencies regarding an investigation into a nonticketed individual” on Sunday.
Fleurizard is being held in Salt Lake County, according to online booking records.
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