UMVA has learned that a daring incident at George Bush Intercontinental Airport has led to a felony charge against 25-year-old Abdulrahman Oluwatumike Oriyomi, who allegedly used a fraudulent boarding pass to board a United Airlines flight.
The audacious move caused the aircraft to return to the gate, sparking a response from multiple law enforcement and security agencies, including the Houston Police Department, the FBI, Houston Airports, and the Transportation Security Administration. According to court documents, Oriyomi's actions delayed a flight carrying a full plane of passengers for approximately three hours.
Sources have confirmed to UMVA that Oriyomi entered the airport, passed through a TSA checkpoint, and attempted to board a flight bound for Los Angeles. When his initial attempt to scan a boarding pass at one gate failed, he made his way to another gate, where United employees were checking passengers' boarding passes.
In a brazen move, Oriyomi waited until airline employees were distracted before proceeding down the jetway and boarding United Flight 469. A passenger reported that Oriyomi initially sat next to her before moving around the aircraft, only to be discovered when a flight attendant checked the passenger manifest and found no authorized passenger listed under the name Oriyomi had provided.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that investigators later reviewed a boarding pass image recovered from Oriyomi's phone and determined it appeared fraudulent, with key information and a QR code missing. A Bush Airport representative concluded that the document was fake.
Prosecutors have sought a $25,000 bond and argued that Oriyomi's actions posed a risk to public safety, prompting them to request several bond conditions, including surrendering any passports or travel documents, avoiding Bush Intercontinental Airport and other airports, refraining from possessing firearms, and submitting to electronic monitoring if ordered by the court.
The case is pending in Harris County's 180th District Court, and it remains unclear whether Oriyomi has secured legal representation. The incident raises serious questions about airport security and the ease with which a fake boarding pass can be used to board a flight.
