Mystery Passenger Lands In LAX With No Ticket, Passport Or Explanation

LOS ANGELES, CA — A suspected stowaway who walked onto a plane in Denmark and arrived in Los Angeles without a ticket, a passport, or a coherent explanation, has been charged in federal court of stowing away on an aircraft, authorities announced Tuesday.

It's a case that baffled customs officials because no one seems to know how the Russian-speaking economist evaded airport security and airline staff to take a seat on the flight. Customs officials at LAX had never encountered such as situation before. The case has set off alarms about the seeming security lapses that allowed it to happen.

Sergey Ochigava flew into Los Angeles International Airport on Nov. 4 on a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen. According to authorities, he spent the flight eating meals and chatting with other passengers.

But when he arrived, customs officials noticed that something was off.

Ochigava was not listed as a passenger on the flight manifest, according to a criminal complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court on Nov. 6.

"When Ochigav presented himself for entry at the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) checkpoint at LAX, CBP officers discovered that Ochigava was not a listed passenger on the flight manifest for SK 931, or any other incoming international flight," FBI Special Agent Caroline Walling, wrote in the complaint filed against Ochigava. "Ochigava was unable to produce a passport or a visa to enter the United States. When questioned, Ochigava gave false and misleading information about his travel to the United States, including initially telling CBP that he left his U.S. passport on the airplane."

Before he landed, Ochigava had caught the attention of the flight crew because he kept changing seats, asked for two servings for each meal and tried to eat chocolate intended for the flight crew, according to court records.

Upon arrival, Ochigava confounded customs officials and airline officials alike. Ochigava allegedly claimed to have left his U.S. passport on the plane, but there was no such passport found and no record of him purchasing a ticket or passing through security in Denmark, according to court documents.

The U.S. Customs officer had never encountered a situation where a passenger was not in the system, according to Walling.

"Ochigava claimed he had not been sleeping for three days and did not understand what was going on," according to the affidavit. "Ochigava stated he might have had a plane ticket to come to the United States, but he was not sure ... When asked how he got through security in Copenhagen, Ochigava claimed he did not remember how he went through security without a ticket."

According to the affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, a search of his bags found Russian identification cards and an Israeli identification card, neither of which would have been adequate to allow him to board an international flight.

Authorities were able to look at his phone briefly where the found images of a city map and information about a German hostel. Investigators sought court approval to conduct a forensics search of the phone for further clues about how he ended up on a flight to the United States.

Ochigava pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Dec. 5 and is being held without bond. A jury trial is scheduled for Dec. 26.