A 25-year-old man allegedly boarded a United Airlines flight from Houston to Los Angeles using a forged boarding pass, hid in a bathroom, was discovered before takeoff, and forced the plane to return to the gate—delaying the flight about 3 hours, according to
The summer travel season has barely started, and for one Houston-to-Los-Angeles trip, the damage came fast: a plane bound for Los Angeles returned to the gate after a man was found aboard without being on the flight’s manifest.
The incident centers on Abdulrahman Oluwatumike Oriyomi. 25. who allegedly sneaked onto United Airlines flight 469 departing from George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) on May 18. A complaint filed in Harris County District Court in Texas on June 1 describes how the situation unfolded after the crew realized he did not belong on the flight.
Surveillance footage. according to the complaint. showed Oriyomi boarding the flight after waiting for “United employees to be preoccupied with other passengers.” He was then accused of trying to find a seat before hiding in the bathroom. with a fellow passenger reporting his presence to flight attendants before takeoff. When questioned, Oriyomi allegedly gave a false name.
The crew then recognized he was not on the flight manifest. At that point, the plane returned to the gate.
The complaint also says Houston police and other agencies spent significant time on the ground. “Officers with the Houston Police Department, the FBI, and H.A.S. were tied up on this significant event for over an hour and a half due to Defendant Oriyomi’s intentional and unauthorized entry into the airport and airline by false representation. ” the complaint states. It adds that United flight number 469 was delayed by approximately 3 hours.
Before Oriyomi ever reached the boarding area, the complaint describes “possible difficulty with his boarding pass” when he was seen speaking with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents. Despite that, he was permitted to go through the security checkpoint.
Investigators say he didn’t stop there. The complaint describes that he attempted to board another flight to Los Angeles first, unsuccessfully trying to scan a boarding pass multiple times and being turned away.
When he later came up with a United confirmation number for Houston police. a United customer service representative told authorities the booking had been canceled because payment had not been made. according to the complaint. Authorities also determined the QR code on his boarding pass appeared to be forged.
The charge tied to the case is impairing or interrupting operation of critical infrastructure facility.
United referred a request for comment to law enforcement. The Transportation Security Administration and an attorney listed for Oriyomi did not immediately respond to separate requests for comment.
In a complaint built on surveillance footage. witness statements. and airport procedures. the timeline is stark: a passenger without a valid presence on the manifest allegedly moved through security. attempted scans for another flight. and then hid aboard United flight 469 until crew and passengers caught up—turning a routine summer itinerary into a several-hour disruption.
United Airlines flight delay Houston IAH Los Angeles TSA forged boarding pass Harris County District Court FBI critical infrastructure facility
Why do people even try this like it’ll work?
3 hours?? That’s crazy. If he had a forged pass, couldn’t United just catch that at the scanner instead of waiting till he hid in the bathroom. Sounds like a security fail on their end.
I saw this headline and thought it was like he got on the plane by accident or something, not a forged boarding pass. But hiding in the bathroom is wild. Also why were the FBI and all those agencies “tied up” for an hour and a half—like was it that serious or am I missing something?
United always acts shocked like they don’t know what they’re doing, but passengers get blamed for everything. If the crew realized he wasn’t on the manifest before takeoff, why not just let him grab his seat anyway? Delaying LA trips by 3 hours over one dude feels like the airport system is the problem, not him honestly. Also “H.A.S.”?? what is that even, some kind of TSA thing?