Stowaway Who Took Photo of Another Passenger’s Boarding Pass to Sneak On Delta Air Flight is Charged With National Security Crimes

A stowaway who managed to sneak onboard a Delta Air Lines flight last month by taking a photo of a young girl’s boarding pass has been indicted with national security crimes following a federal grand jury trial.

Wicliff Yves Fleurizard, 26, was caught out after he boarded the plane in Salt Lake City only to eventually realize that the flight was fully booked and there wasn’t a spare seat onboard.

Fleurizard told law enforcement that he had been trying to get back to Florida and was attempting to travel on a friend’s buddy pass with Southwest Airlines. Unfortunately, every Southwest flight he tried to board was full, so he hatched a plan to get on another flight without a ticket.

Surveillance footage allegedly shows Fleurizard hanging around the gate area of Delta flight DL1683 to Austin on March 17 surreptitiously taking photos of mobile boarding passes belonging to other passengers.

In the end, prosecutors allege Fleurizard used a photo of a boarding pass belonging to a young girl to get past gate agents and onto the plane. Once onboard, Fleurizard hid in the front lavatory for the duration of boarding, presumably to wait until everyone was onboard, allowing him to take any open seat.

But once Fleurizard exited the lavatory, he walked to the back of the plane to find there weren’t any open seats. Fleurizard immediately locked himself in a lavatory at the back of the plane before coming out and again looking for a spare seat.

By this point, the aircraft was already taxiing to the runway, and Fleurizard had nowhere to sit. A flight attendant intervened, and Fleurizard claimed he was booked in seat 21F, despite the fact that a passenger who was already sitting there showed the flight attendant his boarding pass.

The flight attendants then used their company-issued cellphones to search Delta’s reservation system, and at this point, they realized Fleurizard was not only not meant to be on this flight, but he wasn’t meant to be on any Delta flight.

Fleurizard has now been indicted with being a stowaway on an aircraft and access device fraud. His initial appearance will take place at a later date. If found guilty, Fleurizard faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment for access device fraud, while the stowaway charge carries a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment.