A Texas man is accused of photographing other passengers’ boarding passes to sneak onto a Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City on Sunday, leading to his arrest on a felony charge after flight attendants recognized suspicious circumstances before takeoff.
Wicliff Yves Fleurizard, 26, of George, Tex., managed to board a flight to Austin using a photo of a female minor’s boarding pass that he secretly took when she was not looking, according to a criminal complaint filed at the U.S. District Court of Utah.
Surveillance footage from Salt Lake City International Airport showed Fleurizard taking photos of multiple passengers’ phones or mobile boarding passes near the flight’s gate, the complaint states. When a female minor attempted to board, a Delta gate agent discovered that the system showed she was already on the plane. She had been traveling alone using a ticket purchased by her father, according to the court filing.
Once on the plane, Fleurizard’s behavior before takeoff caught the attention of flight attendants. He attempted to open the emergency equipment storage door, leading one staff member to guide him to the lavatory at the front of the aircraft. Then he “spent a significant amount of time” in the bathroom while others boarded, and switched to the lavatory at the back of the plane after all passengers had entered the plane and the doors were secured, the complaint states.
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As the plane began to taxi to the runway, Fleurizard indicated his seat to a flight attendant, but it was already occupied. Flight staff looked up his name in their Guest Service Tool system but were unable to find any Delta reservation matching his name.
The plane returned to the gate, where Salt Lake City police officers met with Fleurizard. He told law enforcement officers that he had been on a snowboarding trip to Park City, Utah, and that he had tried to get home using a Southwest Airlines “buddy pass” that a friend had given him, according to the court filing.
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Fleurizard told police officers that he had tried to board two Southwest flights on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning using his ticket, but both were overbooked and could not provide him a seat. The airline reassigned him for the third time to a flight at 3 p.m. Sunday, but Fleurizard left the Southwest boarding area, the complaint states.
Fleurizard then attempted to take the Delta Air Lines flight, which was scheduled to take off hours earlier than the Southwest ticket, at 9:50 a.m., according to FlightAware.
“Fleurizard admitted he had made a mistake and was only trying to get home,” the court filing states. He now has one count of a felony charge for being a stowaway on an aircraft.
A lawyer for Fleurizard was not listed in public court documents as of Wednesday evening.
Delta Air Lines, the Transportation Security Administration, Salt Lake City International Airport and the Salt Lake City Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.