Bec Oakes
The FBI has been left baffled after a man flew from Europe to the US without a passport, ticket or any idea how he got there.
Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava, a Russian-Israeli dual national, flew from Copenhagen to Los Angeles on Scandinavian Airlines flight SK 931 on November 4.
But, unlike his fellow passengers, Ochigava had neither a boarding pass nor his passport.
Advert
It was also discovered by customs officers in California that he wasn’t on the passenger manifest for the flight from Denmark or any other flight into the US for that matter.
According to court documents, cabin crew noticed the stowaway because he 'wandered around the plane and kept changing his seat' during the flight.
He's also said to have 'asked for two meals during each meal service, and at one point attempted to eat the chocolate that belonged to members of the cabin crew'.
They did not see his boarding and noted that the seat he took during boarding was supposed to be unoccupied according to the flight's manifest.
The report into the incident states: “Some members of the crew conducted head counts for their specific sections, but only to make sure that the aircraft was balanced for take-off and landing. They did not tally the numbers up."
Allegedly, he tried to speak to other passengers during the flight 'but most of the passengers ignored him,' according to members of the cabin crew.
Ochigava is now being held in custody under charges of stowing away on an aircraft, a crime that carries a potential jail sentence of up to five years, as the FBI investigates how exactly he managed to do it.
But, they may not get an answer anytime soon as FBI agent Caroline Walling says he 'stated he might have had a plane ticket to come to the United States but he was not sure.'
He also claimed he 'did not remember how he got on the plane in Copenhagen' and couldn't recall how he got through security at the Danish airport.
A spokesperson for Copenhagen Airport spokesperson has since confirmed that the man was on the flight despite not having a ticket or passport.
They told The Independent: “We can see from our surveillance that he has entered without a valid ticket.
"Copenhagen Airport has provided photo and video material to the authorities who are investigating the case.
"We take the matter very seriously, and it will be included in the work we continuously do to adjust and tighten our guidelines to improve security.”
And, a spokesperson for Scandinavian Airlines has said that the incident is being 'handled by the relevant authorities both in US and Denmark.'