According to federal prosecutors, a Delta Air Lines flight crew discovered a ticketless man hiding in the bathroom of a plane preparing to leave Utah.
He had taken photos of several unsuspecting passengers’ phones and boarding passes, secretly boarded the plane and then used his own phone to board the plane, a review of surveillance footage from Salt Lake City International Airport showed. March 17, court documents show.
The 26-year-old resident of Leander, Texas, has been indicted on charges of stowaway on an aircraft and access device fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah announced April 18.
A federal public defender assigned to represent the man did not immediately respond to requests for comment from McClatchy News on April 19.
“Delta is pleased with the swift action taken by the U.S. Department of Justice,” an airline spokesperson told McClatchy News on April 19.
“We have zero tolerance for unlawful behavior on flights and at airports and we will always cooperate fully with law enforcement to that end,” the spokesperson said.
What happened after he got on the plane?
Shortly after the man boarded the plane bound for Austin, Texas, prosecutors said a flight attendant saw him open the door to the plane’s emergency equipment storage area.
The flight attendant then escorted him to a bathroom at the front of the plane, prosecutors said.
An officer with the Salt Lake City Police Department’s federal task force wrote in an affidavit that the man “spent a significant amount of time in the restroom while others boarded the plane, and that he did not lock the door while in the restroom used to be.”
After all passengers boarded, the man is accused of going to the back of the plane and into another bathroom.
When the man stepped out of that bathroom, he caught the attention of a flight attendant, who realized all the plane’s seats were full, prosecutors said.
The man tried to claim an occupied seat as his own, but the flight attendant confirmed that the seat belonged to the person sitting there, prosecutors said.
At that point, the plane had left the gate and was headed to the runway, prosecutors said.
Flight attendants were unable to find the man’s name or a valid ticket for him when searching the plane’s travel list, prompting the plane to return to the gate, prosecutors said.
In an interview with police, the man said he “needed to go home to see his family,” according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, he told authorities that a friend gave him an unpaid Southwest Airlines guest pass so he could fly home the day before on March 16, but the flight was full.
A Southwest Airlines Guest Pass allows passengers to travel on standby when space is available on a flight.
The man told police he had been rebooked on a new flight, but it turned out to be overbooked, the affidavit said.
“(He) admitted he made a mistake and was just trying to get home,” the affidavit said.
Court records show the man was arrested on March 21.
He must appear in court for the charges, the U.S. Department of Justice said. His upcoming court date was not specified.
Leander is located about 25 miles northwest of Austin.
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