Overview
- Investigators say 25-year-old Abdulrahman Oriyomi boarded a United flight at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport by walking past distracted gate agents and hiding in a lavatory before crew discovered he was not on the manifest.
- Police and court records show surveillance footage from May 18 captured Oriyomi having trouble at a TSA checkpoint, being photographed, then later joining boarding lines and boarding a flight after a gate pass was not scanned.
- Authorities reviewed the boarding-pass image and told investigators it lacked required fields and had a QR code that appeared forged, while the TSA publicly said the individual presented a valid boarding pass and went through standard screening.
- The plane returned to the gate, all passengers deplaned, the Houston Police explosive-detection K-9 unit and the FBI checked the aircraft, and the flight was delayed about three hours because of the incident.
- Oriyomi was arrested and charged with impairing or interrupting a critical infrastructure facility, held on a $15,000 bond with court conditions including an ankle monitor, his attorney says he believed he had bought a cheap ticket and the case has led to calls for clearer gate and checkpoint procedures.