'Two-Faced' Flyer Has Security Agents Scrambling

Homeland Security chief wonders how man was able to board plane
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 8, 2010 3:56 AM CST
'Two-Faced' Flyer Has Security Agents Scrambling
These photos released by Canadian authorities show left, a young man who boarded an Air Canada flight in Hong Kong while disguised as an elderly male, center and right, the disguise he was wearing.   (AP Photo/Canada Border Services Agency)

The passenger who turned from an elderly white man into a young Asian man mid-flight is causing panicked authorities to scramble to update security procedures. Hong Kong authorities believe the man—who was wearing a mask sold online under the name "Jerry Attrick" and mimicked the movement of an elderly person—boarded the flight to Vancouver after arriving as a transit passenger from a city in southern China, the New York Times reports.

The case raises troubling questions about airport security, says Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano. "I understand that it’s under investigation right now, as it ought to be,” she told reporters after a security conference in Canada. “I think a lot of us have questions about how this happened and how he was able to get on the plane." The disguised passenger is seeking refugee status in Canada, and officials believe there is no terrorist connection to the case.
(More disguise stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X