22 March 2024 , 01:30
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A Texas man was kicked off an airplane as it was taxing and arrested after allegedly boarding a flight using a photo of someone else's ticket in a badly thought-out scheme.
The man, named Wicliff Yves Fleurizard, 26, is now facing charges for stowing away on a vessel or aircraft. This information comes from a complaint filed in a U.S. district court in Utah on Monday.
The investigation alleged that Fleurizard was wandering around taking photos of customers' boarding passes while they weren't looking. Taking advantage of the ticket checkers looking away for a moment, he slid right through the ticket area with a photo.
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A man tried to get on an airplane by sneakily taking photos of other's tickets (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)Attendants said that he then went to the bathroom for some time while others boarded the plane. "After everyone had boarded and just before the plane doors were closed, Fleurizard came out of the front toilet. He then made his way to the back of the plane and went into the back toilet," the complaint said.
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When he came out of the bathroom, a flight attendant noticed there were no seats left. The flight attendant went over to Fleurizard to help him. By this time, the complaint noted that the plane had already left the gate and started moving down the runway.
Fleurizard told the cabin crew his seat was 21F, but they quickly checked the roster and found that someone else had already booked that spot. Realizing what had happened, the plane quickly returned back to the airport where police were waiting.
Fleurizard explained to the cops he'd been snowboarding in Park City, Utah, and really wanted to get back to his family. He said he should have been on an earlier Southwest Airlines flight, but it was too full, and he got put on a later one, the report tells us.
"Fleurizard admitted he had made a mistake and was only trying to get home," the report notes. Right now, he's in jail in Salt Lake County, and the police are keeping an eye on him, CNN found out. It's not clear if Fleurizard has a lawyer yet.
Delta Air Lines' Morgan Durrant said they're helping 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 prior to a scheduled departure. We defer any additional questions to law enforcement," Durrant mentioned.