Illegal Boarding Incident: FBI Investigates Passenger’s Unauthorized Entry onto Delta Flight”
According to a criminal complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Utah, the FBI is currently investigating an incident wherein a man allegedly illicitly boarded a Delta Air Lines flight by photographing someone else’s boarding pass. The passenger, identified as Wicliff Yves Fleurizard of George, Texas, was removed from Flight 1683, bound from Salt Lake City to Austin, Texas.
FBI
Fleurizard faces one felony charge of stowing away on a vessel or aircraft, which carries a potential fine or a maximum five-year imprisonment, or both, as stated in the complaint. Surveillance footage from the boarding area reportedly showed Fleurizard taking pictures of multiple passengers’ phones when they were not attentive. A Delta gate agent informed investigators that a solo minor passenger encountered issues scanning her ticket as the system indicated she was already aboard.
Further scrutiny revealed that Fleurizard spent a considerable time period in the lavatory at the front of the aircraft prior to relocating to the rear lavatory during taxiing. When a flight attendant noticed a lack of available seats and approached Fleurizard for assistance, he provided a seat number that did not correspond to his name in the flight manifest.
Subsequent checks by the flight crew failed to confirm the validity of Fleurizard’s ticket or reservation in the airline’s system, leading to his removal from the flight. Fleurizard informed law enforcement officers that he attempted to use a friend’s Southwest Airlines buddy pass to travel home to Florida after a snowboarding trip in Utah, as flights were fully booked the previous day. He admitted to his actions, claiming he was solely attempting to return home to his family.
Delta Air Lines stated it is collaborating with law enforcement and relevant federal agencies during the investigation. The flight ultimately arrived in Austin with a delay of 30 minutes from its scheduled time. Fleurizard is presently detained under a federal hold at Salt Lake County Metro Jail.
This incident follows a similar case last month, wherein a woman purportedly boarded an American Airlines flight from Nashville to Los Angeles without a boarding pass, by circumventing an unmanned section of security, subsequently being intercepted by law enforcement upon arrival.
