A man with a fake boarding pass was allegedly able to slip through airport security and on to a plane. Court records say 25-year-old Abdulrahman Oriyomi of Houston made it onto a United Airlines flight at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on May 18 using a bogus pass, then tried to hide in the cabin bathroom, per NBC News. Surveillance footage allegedly shows Oriyomi proceeding through airport security despite apparent issues with his pass, then repeatedly being turned away at United gates when it wouldn’t scan. He ultimately joined the boarding line for a Los Angeles-bound flight and, according to a Houston police officer’s affidavit, walked down the jet bridge when gate agents were distracted.
Witnesses say he took an aisle seat, ducked into the restroom, returned to find the seat’s actual ticket-holder there, then went back to the bathroom as the full flight taxied. After a passenger flagged his behavior, he allegedly gave a false name not on the flight manifest, per USA Today. The plane returned to the gate, passengers deplaned, and police swept the aircraft for explosives. Investigators later determined the pass was fake. Oriyomi—who had reportedly made a reservation that was cancelled when he failed to pay—was arrested Friday and faces a felony charge of disrupting critical infrastructure. A security consultant has since questioned the training of a “whole cadre of agents at the airport,” noting Oriyomi should never have been let through security, per KTRK.
