A person was discovered touring on a Scandinavian Airways flight to the US and not using a passport.
The FBI charged Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava with being a stowaway.
Ochigava stated he could not keep in mind how he boarded the flight with none legitimate paperwork.
A person flew to the US and not using a passport or a ticket — and managed solely to get caught when he arrived in Los Angeles, based on a prison criticism filed by the FBI on November 6.
Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava arrived at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport on a Scandinavian Airways flight from Copenhagen, Denmark, on November 4, per the criticism. At LAX, Customs and Border Safety officers discovered that Ochigava had no passport or visa. Officers additionally could not discover him on the passenger checklist for any flights.
Ochigava informed an official that he left his US passport on the aircraft, per the criticism. The official tried to search for Ochigava’s private data on the CBP database, however nothing got here up. Later, a number of officers searched Ochigava’s bag and located what seemed to be Russian and Israeli identification playing cards, based on the criticism.
Scandinavian Airways stated within the criticism that employees by no means discovered Ochigava’s passport on the flight. A spokesperson confirmed the incident to 404 Media however declined to remark additional. “The matter is being dealt with by related authorities each in US and Denmark and we can’t remark any additional. It is the authorities who must give additional particulars,” the spokesperson stated.
FBI Particular Agent Caroline A. Walling wrote within the criticism that no documentation noting that Ochigava had utilized for or obtained a visa had been discovered.
Ochigava additionally behaved unusually on the aircraft, the criticism famous. The flight’s cabin crew informed officers that Ochigava stored wandering across the aircraft and altered his seat a number of instances, per the criticism.
Ochigava had requested for 2 meals throughout every meal service and tried consuming the cabin crew’s chocolate, per the criticism.
Ochigava informed the FBI that he had a PhD in economics and advertising, and had beforehand labored as an economist in Russia, per the criticism. He added that he had not slept for 3 days and didn’t know the way he had boarded the aircraft from Denmark with out the required paperwork.
The FBI charged Ochigava with being a stowaway on an plane, per the criticism. If convicted, Ochigava might be imprisoned for as much as 5 years, based on the US Code.
A number of stowaways have been discovered illegally touring in recent times. In January 2022, a person survived a flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam after hiding in a cargo aircraft. In July 2019, a person was discovered within the touchdown gear compartment of an American Airways flight after it landed in Miami.
The FBI, Scandinavian Airways, and Ochigava’s legal professional J’me Forrest didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, despatched exterior common workplace hours.
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