Hiding in Airplane Bathroom, Foreigner Sneaks to China, Caught!

Source: OT-Team(G)，The Local; PYOK

  A foreigner sneaked onto a China-bound flight by hiding in an airplane bathroom.

  A foreign man managed to evade multiple checks at Vienna International Airport and snuck onboard a Hainan Airlines flight to China, where he was only discovered when the plane was well on its way to its destination of Shenzhen, an 11-hour, 8,680 KM flight away from the Austrian capital.

  Officials have not revealed the exact date of the recent incident, but officials at Vienna-Schwechat Airport, as well as the local police department and public prosecutor's office, have confirmed that an investigation has got underway.

  A spokesperson for the airport has stressed that the stowaway was subject to the same security screening as any other passengers so the risk of him taking anything prohibited onboard the flight is extremely small.

  Nonetheless, there are questions that need to be answered about how the man was allowed into the security checkpoint in the first place, given the fact that he did not have a boarding pass.

  So far, officials believe that the stowaway managed to get past the passport control for non-Schengen zone departures by clinging onto a large family group and disguising himself amongst the legitimate travelers.

  The stowaway then managed to sneak past the gate agents and onto the plane, where he promptly hid in an onboard bathroom. The man went unnoticed by the cabin crew until the aircraft had already departed and was already a fair distance into the flight.

  By this point, it was too late to return to Vienna, so Hainan Airlines flight HU-790 carried onto Shenzhen where he was handed over to the police. Chinese authorities promptly had the man deported and sent back to Vienna.