A non-ticketed passenger was reportedly removed from a Delta Air Lines flight set to take off from Salt Lake City earlier this week after trying to hide in two of the plane’s bathrooms, a report says.
A Delta spokesperson told FOX Business on Wednesday that the airline is now "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."
The incident involving Flight 1683 from Salt Lake City to Austin, Texas, on Sunday led to the arrest of 26-year-old Wicliff Fleurizard of George, Texas, CBS News is reporting, citing a criminal complaint.
Fleurizard reportedly told investigators he used a friend’s Southwest Airlines "buddy pass" to get through security at the airport and went to the Delta plane’s gate after the flight he wanted to get on was full.
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The complaint alleges Fleurizard was seen on security cameras taking pictures of other people’s boarding passes at that gate without their knowledge before apparently using one of those photos to get on board the plane, CBS News reports.
Fleurizard then tried to hide in the front and rear bathrooms of the aircraft, but once the doors were sealed and the plane began taxiing with no open seats left, the flight staff on board noticed the issue, and the plane returned to the gate, the station added, citing the complaint.
Fleurizard reportedly told investigators he "admitted he had made a mistake and was only trying get home" from Utah following a snowboarding trip to Park City.
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Jail records show Fleurizard is still being held Wednesday in Salt Lake City on a federal detainer.
A Transportation Security Administration spokesperson told FOX Business that "we have looked into this matter and learned that the individual in question was screened without an incident at the security checkpoint at Salt Lake City international Airport on Sunday, March 17 using a photo ID that matched the name on the boarding pass."
Last month, a woman reportedly was able to travel on a domestic flight from Tennessee to California without a boarding pass.
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"TSA is reviewing the circumstances of this matter but can confirm that the traveler in question was physically screened, along with their carry-on items, without incident at the Nashville International Airport security checkpoint on February 7th before boarding the flight," a TSA spokesperson told USA Today at the time.
FOX Business’ Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.
