A man from Texas was arrested after he boarded a Delta Air Lines plane without a ticket in Salt Lake City. Wicliff Yves Fleurizard, 26, faces a federal charge of stowing away on an aircraft after authorities allege he used a photo of another passenger's boarding pass to board a plane, CNN reported.
According to court documents filed in Utah, security footage captured Fleurizard taking pictures of passengers' phones and boarding passes before the flight. He allegedly used this information on his phone to bypass security and board the flight to Austin, Texas.
The complaint details Fleurizard's unusual behaviour on board. After entering the plane, he spent "a significant amount of time" in the front lavatory while passengers boarded.
After boarding was complete and just before the aircraft doors were secured, Fleurizard exited the front lavatory, made his way to the back, and entered the aft lavatory," the complaint said.
Upon exiting the lavatory, a flight attendant noticed the full flight and approached Fleurizard to offer assistance. By this point, the plane had already begun taxiing for takeoff. Fleurizard provided a seat number, but a passenger was already occupying it. The complaint alleges that after verifying Fleurizard's identity and lack of a ticket, the flight crew returned the plane to the gate where law enforcement awaited him.
Fleurizard told police he was in Park City, Utah, for a snowboarding trip and "needed to get home to see his family," the document reads. He told authorities that he was booked on a Southwest Airlines flight earlier Sunday, but the flight was overbooked and he was rescheduled on a later flight, according to the complaint.
"Fleurizard admitted he had made a mistake and was only trying to get home," the complaint said.
He is being held at Salt Lake County Metro Jail on a federal detainer, police told CNN.
Delta Air Lines spokesperson Morgan Durrant said the airline is cooperating with the investigation.
"Delta is cooperating with law enforcement and relevant federal agencies regarding an investigation into a non-ticketed individual being escorted off an aircraft in Salt Lake City before a scheduled departure. We defer any additional questions to law enforcement," Durrant said in a statement.
