A Houston man is facing a felony charge after he allegedly got through TSA security screening using a fake boarding pass and snuck onto a United Airlines flight to Los Angeles last month, delaying the flight’s departure by three hours and prompting a major law enforcement response.
Abdulrahman Oriyomi, 25, is charged with felony impairing or interrupting operation of critical infrastructure facility and is currently wanted.
A warrant for his arrest was filed Monday.
What happened with TSA
Oriyomi arrived at Bush Airport early the morning of May 18, according to court records, and went to the Terminal C security checkpoint.
He was “constantly staring at his phone and delaying speaking to a TSA agent,” investigators said, before he finally spoke with a TSA agent and had possibly difficulty with his boarding pass.
He then got escorted to another TSA booth, surveillance video showed, had his picture taken, and was allowed to go through security, according to records.
Inside the airport
The suspect then walked around freely inside Bush Intercontinental Airport before approaching gate C35, according to records, and speaking with United employees.
He continued walking around before getting in line to board a flight at gate E16, investigators said, which was a flight departing Houston around 7:15 a.m. for Los Angeles.
Twice, he attempted to scan a boarding pass but was unsuccessful, according to records, and then got into an apparent disagreement with a United employee before being turned away from the gate around 7:10 a.m.
While he walked away, he stayed in the airport before arriving at another gate about an hour later.
Boarding a plane
By about 8:15 a.m., Oriyomi had arrived around gate D4 at Bush Airport, where investigators said he “awkwardly paced and stood” in the area, while constantly looking over at United employees scanning boarding passes.
Just after 9 a.m., surveillance video showed him getting in the boarding line for United flight 469, which was also bound for Los Angeles, according to records.
About a minute after getting in line, and while allegedly intentionally waiting for the gate agents to be preoccupied with other passengers, Oriyomi pretended to show a boarding pass, walked past the employees, and proceeded down the jetway while the employees were still distracted, investigators said.
The flight was scheduled to depart at 9:45 p.m.
On board flight 469
A woman seated on the plane told investigators Oriyomi walked onto the plane and sat in the aisle seat next to her but “seemed unsure if the seat he was in was his,” according to records.
He eventually stood up and went to a plane restroom, before returning about 15 minutes later and tried to sit back down, but by then the real passenger had taken the seat, records show.
That’s when Oriyomi allegedly went to a different bathroom and the plane began to taxi away from the gate.
The woman then notified a flight attendant that someone was in the bathroom, according to records, so the flight attendant knocked on the bathroom door and advised Oriyomi to return to his seat.
He pretended to start walking to a seat, according to records, but instead hid in a different bathroom at the back of the plane.
By then, the flight attendant told investigators he asked for Oriyomi’s name and told him to return to his seat again, which is when Oriyomi identified himself as “Mr. Lopez,” according to records.
The flight was full so there wasn’t an open seat, which is when Oriyomi allegedly asked to sit in the jump seat.
Flight attendants checked the manifest and realized there was no “Mr. Lopez” on the list, so the plane had to return to the gate because of the unauthorized passenger.
Law enforcement response
The Houston Police Department and Explosive Detection K9 unit, along with the FBI, Houston Airport Systems, and TSA all got dispatched.
Everyone on board had to deplane, according to records, and the plane got checked for any explosives.
During the investigation, Oriyomi gave his real name and date of birth while also showing a United confirmation number on his phone, according to records, and his boarding pass.
United employees determined he had made a reservation, but it got canceled by the airline because there was no payment.
Investigators later determined the boarding pass was possibly fake, because it was missing key information and the QR code appeared to be forged, according to records.
The situation delayed the plane by about three hours, according to records.
Oriyomi was read a trespass warning at the airport, and after realizing he wasn’t immediately going to jail, he began recording the airport and law enforcement teams while “causing a scene,” investigators said. He eventually left the airport.
What went wrong?
KPRC 2 News has reached out to TSA and Bush Airport for additional information on the incident and to find out if any measures are now in place to prevent unauthorized passengers from bypassing security and boarding an aircraft.
United Airlines would not answer any questions about the incident and referred KPRC 2 News to the Houston Police Department.
An airport spokesperson referred any questions to TSA and United Airlines.
Oriyomi does not appear to have a criminal history in Harris County, records show, and he is currently wanted.
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