Kip Powick Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Two men who stowed away on a flight from Ethiopia to Dulles International Airport were being held on misdemeanor charges Thursday, immigration officials said. The men were found Wednesday during a security inspection of the Ethiopian Airlines jet, said Pat Reilly, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They are being held on charges of entering the United States without inspection. They likely face deportation if they acted alone, but there could be more serious charges if investigators learn that others were involved or if the men were found to be testing security, Reilly said. "We do not know if others are involved," she said. "If it turned out that they were smuggled into the country, there would be a criminal investigation." The flight originated in Ethiopia, Reilly said, but she did not know if there were any stopovers where the men might have gotten on the plane. Ethiopian Airlines' office in Alexandria, Va., was closed and not accepting messages by phone when contacted Thursday evening by The Associated Press. Ethiopian Airlines officials told WUSA-TV that the men had hidden in the plane's ceiling. If the men got on the plane in Ethiopia, U.S. investigators can work with security officials there to determine how the breach happened, Reilly said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.O. Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 You have to hand it to them. They were smarter than the guy who tried to hide in the landing gear bay of one of our A320s several years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boestar Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 or the 2 guys that hid in the wheel well of the BWIA L-1011. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted January 25, 2008 Author Share Posted January 25, 2008 ......smarter than the guy who tried to hide in the landing gear bay of one of our A320s several years ago. Who told him it was a Skyservice crew and he decided to "not -go" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.O. Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Maybe a poor choice of words on my part. He tried to sneak into Canada from the DR in January 2003, and while he did make it, he did not get to enjoy the experience. He died of asphyxia and exposure. Unfortunately, his hiding place was very well chosen, and he was in there for several days and several flight sectors. He was discovered on a weekly maintenance check when an engineer opened the belly doors on the main landing gear bay. I even flew him to YVR and back during that week. It was a very sad time for us when we realized what had happened. The least we could do was to prepare him for burial and return him to his family in Punta Cana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 Ooooops didn't know he expired . Based on your last line I would assume that is what Skyservice did for the unfortunate family? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.O. Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Yes, the CEO insisted on it. It was a very nice gesture and I was proud of him for doing it. Unfortunately, when we returned his casket to PUJ, some local "officials" appeared to be looking for someone to blame, and our representatives, who were sent to respectfully present him to his family and express our condolences, narrowly escaped the handcuffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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