Airline turns into fountain of youth

Updated on: 06 November,2010 07:56 AM IST |
Agencies |

Young Asian boards Air Canada plane dressed as elderly man, exits as 20-year-old

Young Asian boards Air Canada plane dressed as elderly man, exits as 20-year-old

"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," the alert sent to authorities stated. "During the flight the subject attended the washroom and emerged an Asian male that appeared to be in his early 20s."

Border services officers met the man at the gate in Vancouver and escorted him off the aircraft and through the primary inspection line, where he made a claim for refugee protection, the alert said.

Interesting find
The man originally claimed to have only one piece of luggage, but the border officers found two more. One bag contained personal clothing, a second contained a pair of gloves and a third contained a disguise kit including a silicone-type head and neck mask of an elderly Caucasian male, a brown leather cap, glasses and a thin brown cardigan.

The alert said the man donned the disguise for border officers, even mimicking the movements of an elderly person, and admitted he boarded the flight with the disguise on and removed it several hours later.

The alert said it is believed the man swapped boarding passes with a US citizen passenger who was born in 1955, but it is unclear why he did so.

Air Canada and Canadian Border Security Authority (CBSA) officials confirmed that the CBSA intercepted a passenger arriving off AC018 and that an investigation is continuing.

The man is in CBSA detention awaiting an immigration and refugee board hearing.

The man's name and home country has not been released.

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