By Tim Binnall
Federal authorities arrested a man who somehow managed to catch a flight from Denmark to Los Angeles without a plane ticket nor a passport as well as what he claims is no memory of how he wound up on the odd journey. The peculiar incident reportedly occurred in early November when Sergey Ochigava, a Russian-Israeli national, appeared among international arrivals at LAX. When asked for his passport, the man initially indicated that he had inadvertently left it on his inbound flight from Denmark. However, customs officials looking into the situation quickly learned that it was far stranger than they likely could have imagined.
A check of the plane's manifest turned up no sign of Ochigava on the list and, after everyone else had been accounted for, they determined that he had somehow gotten onto the flight without a ticket. Making matters all the weirder, the Scandinavian Airlines crew that served the man said that he was anything but inconspicuous during the flight. To that end, they recalled that he hopped around to different seats, asked for two meals, and tried to snatch some chocolate that belonged to the flight attendants. Upon being questioned by the FBI, Ochigava expressed confusion over the situation and asserted that he had not slept for three days.
The peculiar passenger also offered no explanation for how he wound up in LA by claiming that he had no recollection of passing through security or getting on the flight without a ticket. As one might imagine, authorities and airline officials are investigating how the man could have possibly slipped through so many checkpoints and ultimately landed in an unoccupied seat on the flight without anyone noticing. As for Ochigava, he remains in federal custody as he has been charged with the felony crime of being a stowaway, which carries a five-year prison sentence should he be convicted.