Man Creatively Sneaks Onto Delta Flight, But Gets Caught

Every so often we hear stories of people sneaking onto flights. Sometimes they’re successful, and sometimes they immediately get caught. A bit over a week ago, someone tried to sneak onto a Delta flight, using a method I’ve never heard of. And he almost got away with it, except for one little problem…

I first wrote about this last week, but wanted to provide an update, as there’s now video footage of this guy’s ploy, and it’s quite interesting to see.

How someone snuck onto a Delta flight from Salt Lake City

The FBI is investigating a 26-year-old who managed to sneak onto a Delta flight from Salt Lake City (SLC) to Austin (AUS) on Sunday, March 17, 2024.

The man reportedly intended to fly with Southwest to Austin. He had a “buddy pass,” which was presumably given to him by a Southwest employee, to be able to fly with the airline on a space available basis. So he cleared security with that standby pass, though unfortunately the Southwest flight was full, meaning he wouldn’t be able to take the flight.

Desperate to get to Austin, the man then used a different strategy. He went to the gate for the Delta flight to Austin, and used his phone to take pictures of the boarding passes of other passengers without their knowledge. No one noticed this at the time, but rather this was only uncovered using security camera footage after the fact.

He then boarded the aircraft using the barcode on another passenger’s boarding pass. Now, he did sort of think this through — he didn’t simply take the seat associated with that boarding pass, since he knew it would be occupied. Instead, he boarded and then tried to hide in the lavatory. The goal was to let everyone else board, and then take whatever empty seat was left.

The problem is, there were no empty seats on the flight. So when he emerged from the lavatory and the plane began taxiing, flight attendants realized something was wrong, and the plane returned to the gate. The aircraft was met by police, where the traveler “admitted he had made a mistake and was only trying get home.” Police say the man is being held on a federal detainer at the Salt Lake County Metro Jail. The flight ended up departing around 30 minutes late.

Below is a video clip from Good Morning America, showing video footage from inside the terminal. You can see how the man chats up people near him, takes pictures of their boarding passes, and then boards the plane.

The guy deserves credit for creativity

Let me start by saying that of course you shouldn’t try to sneak onto a plane. Not only because it’s unethical, but because the risk is high, and the reward is low.

Every so often we see stories of people trying to sneak onto planes. In some cases it’s because they genuinely have a reason that they want to go to a certain destination and either can’t or don’t want to pay for a flight, while in other cases it seems to be a game, or mental illness, or both.

I have to at least give this guy credit for sort of thinking this through, and sneaking onto a plane as well as one possibly could:

• A barcode for an eligible ticket is all that it takes to get onto a domestic flight in the United States, as IDs aren’t generally checked at the gate (but rather only when you check-in and when you go through security)
• He made sure that he boarded before the the passenger who had the boarding pass information that he stole; when the other passenger tried to board, the system suggested that this passenger had already boarded, though the gate agent assumed it was a glitch, so allowed that person to board
• He was smart for going to the lavatory until boarding was complete, and then hoping to snag whatever seat was empty
• He was also of course brilliant for sneaking onto a Delta flight; who wouldn’t want to fly with the airline that gets a revenue premium for its excellence, and which has Airbus A350-1000s on order 😉

This plan would have likely worked if it weren’t for every single seat on the aircraft being occupied. So if you are going to sneak onto a plane, this is about as good of a job as one could do. I think his one mistake was not checking the seat map prior to following through with this scheme. When he found out the flight was at capacity, that would’ve certainly been a clue.

I’m also curious how premeditated all of this was, or if he has done it before. He seems to have had a legitimate buddy pass, so he had a real way of getting through security. Did he just come up with this scheme on the spot, or had he thought through the logistics in advance?

Bottom line

A man tried to sneak onto a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Austin. He had a buddy pass for Southwest, but that flight was full, so he needed to find a new way to travel. So he went to the gate area for a Delta flight, took a picture of someone else’s boarding pass, and then boarded with that.

Once onboard, he headed to the lavatory, where he stayed until boarding was complete. His plan was to take any open seat, though the issue is that the flight was at capacity. Police then met the flight, and the man was arrested.

What do you make of this Delta stowaway scheme?