Exclusive: Man in disguise boards international flight

[Drum]

Source: CNN.com

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Canadian authorities are investigating an "unbelievable" incident in which a passenger boarded an Air Canada flight disguised as an elderly man, according to a confidential alert obtained by CNN.

The incident occurred on October 29 on Air Canada flight AC018 to Vancouver originating in Hong Kong. An intelligence alert from the Canada Border Services Agency describes the incident as an "unbelievable case of concealment."

"Information was received from Air Canada Corporate Security regarding a possible imposter on a flight originating from Hong Kong," the alert says. "The passenger in question was observed at the beginning of the flight to be an elderly Caucasian male who appeared to have young looking hands. During the flight the subject attended the washroom and emerged an Asian looking male that appeared to be in his early 20s."
---snip---
"The subject initially claimed to be in possession of one bag; however, flight crew approached the BSOs with two additional pieces of luggage which were believed to belong to the subject. One bag contained the subject's personal clothing items while the second contained a pair of gloves. The third contained a 'disguise kit' which consisted of a silicone type head and neck mask of an elderly Caucasian male, a brown leather cap, glasses and a thin brown cardigan."



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/11/04/canada.disguised.passenger/index.html?hpt=P1&iref=NS1

[Ian David]

1. I bet it was that guy who dressed like a pimp for the ACORN video. n/t

[The Stranger]

2. Maybe he's a Discordian.

No apparent motive, other than to see if he can do it, so not sure what else to make of it.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. "Good morning, Mr. Phelps."

Mission: Impossible

This might be the first time in history anyone fell for that fake facemask.

You can't get the theme song out of your head, can you?

[Blue_Tires]

4. THIS MESSAGE WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN ONE SECOND

:nuke:

[Judi Lynn]

6. Oh, God. Like a fool, I asked myself, "How DID that theme song go?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9XO85CF2d4

Now you've done it.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. "We will keep you here...

until you tell us what you've done with the microfilm."

[nyc 4 Biden]

5. amazing photo...

[Judi Lynn]

8. Good one! He should concentrate on getting lighter material. The head is too large. n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

7. This sounds like a story from The Onion........

[Javaman]

9. It was the oversized shoes and the big red nose that gave him away. nt

[xchrom]

10. I wonder what the name on the passport was

Or did it stay the same - more than one?

But very interesting.

[Bragi]

11. All seniors will now have their faces poked in pre-boarding /nt

[Auggie]

14. LOL

[Hassin Bin Sober]

25. He doesn't look to far off from how my pops looked before he passed.

My pops used to get double and triple searched because, as a retired air-line employee, he was always flying on a one way ticket - stand-by non-revenue.

Apparently, they have since figured a way to flag employees because the last time I flew the gate agent over-road the alarm light for me and let me board un-molested. Kinda funny because I wasn't REALLY a retiree and those passes can be given to anyone.

[Turborama]

29. LOL and/or a gentle flick of the nose n/t

[polly7]

12. Strange that security in Hong Kong and Montreal didn't find him a little

old looking for 55, let alone the young-looking hands. http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20101105/disguised-traveller-101105/

[MilesColtrane]

18. The story says they accepted a credit card as indentification.

That's unbelievable.

This one makes me a little uneasy.

[DirkGently]

15. Sounds crazy, but it could be just air miles fraud.

"It is believed that the subject and the actual United States Citizen passenger (whose date of birth is 1955) performed a boarding pass swap, with the subject using an Aeroplan card as identification to board the flight," the alert said.

Aeroplan is a credit card where card holders can earn frequent flyer miles.

Hong Kong to Vancouver has got to be worth some serious points.

(adjusts tinfoil headgear for comfort).

:crazy:

[bigworld]

20. So he did this for the air miles?

I admire the spunk, but really.

[DirkGently]

22. That is my radical, probably-wrong interpretation of the text.

Dying to hear what what was going on, either way.


:D

[yellowcanine]

23. Problem is that guy looks as if he was born in 1925 (or earlier), not 1955.

A person born in 1955 is only 55 years old. The disguise looks at least 30 years older than that.

[DirkGently]

31. True. Probably the only hyper-realistic Mission Impossible silicone head mask he had handy.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

24. The article says he is seeking refugee status...

After landing in Canada, Border Services Officers (BSOs) escorted the man off the plane where he "proceeded to make a claim for refugee protection," the alert says.

Could it be the boarding pass swap was made by a US citizen helping him get out of the country? The way I read it, he used the air miles portion of a pass that can ALSO be used to board. It sounds like there may be another piece of a pass floating around and perhaps used by its rightful owner. NO? Or am I reading it wrong?

with the subject using an Aeroplan card as identification to board the flight," the alert said.

Aeroplan is a credit card where card holders can earn frequent flyer miles.

[DirkGently]

26. That confused me. A refugee from Hong Kong? I thought they still had free emmigration rights? No?

[kirby]

16. People do this all the time...

In order to get the senior discount at Denny's.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

17. As a former make-up artist --

I can tell you that piece is fucking amazing -- incredibly detailed! :wow: But he made the CLASSIC mistake made by many artists -- he forgot to age his hands. When I teach, that is my big bugaboo -- never, ever forget to do the hands -- "Roots" was chock full of aged characters with hands that looked decades younger.

[Kablooie]

27. Here he is wearing it over his shirt...

It is pretty amazing. I want one.



Another makeup bugaboo is coloring the face but not the neck.
I hate it in movies when the makeup isn't carried over to the rest of the visible body.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

28. Yes, forgetting the neck and ears --

drives me frickin' crazy to see that. :crazy: Guests on cable news shos suffer from that problme a lot.

Wow, just incredibly work there.

I saw a TV segment about a guy who used to work for the CIA making just such masks for agents. He also made a mask for a woman who had massive burns on her face -- I mean no nose, lips -- and was unable to go out in public. With his mask and a hat and glasses no one would look at her twice when she went out.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

19. Ken Lay returning to the continent....

... word has been that Ken Lay had plastic surgery performed after his faked death in Colorado, and now appears as a middle aged Chinese man.

[rug]

21. Weird.

I expected to read it was Rahm.

[mainer]

30. Old guy supposedly born in 1955?

The article says the young guy did a boarding pass swap with an American born in 1955. That guy looks a LOT older than 55. You'd think TSA would have noticed that.

[boobooday]

32. I love Mr. Magoo!

Looks just like him.