Man in Disguise Boards International Flight: Unbelievable Incident!

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This is a picture of "after" and "before" the Air Canada flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver




Here is the story

Exclusive: Man in disguise boards international flight - CNN.com

Enjoy!

Derek
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Ten
    lol crazy. i bet he was detained for hours. yikes
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  • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
    He is still being detained. He took off his disguise on the flight knowing well he would be arrested. He has now claimed refugee status. The origin of his country is unknown. I would thought it is either Vietnam or China. There is no need for a Hong Kong resident to claim refugee status because even Chinese dissidents are free to operate here.
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    The old disguise doesn't look real AT ALL! It is too large, too wrinkly, misaligned, etc... The mouth is also too large, so it may have been a giveaway if he spoke face to face. If course, voice timber and pronunciation probably would be a giveaway ANYWAY. OH MAN, what NOW!?!?!? Will TSA agents start feeling a person's face? BTW, he looks chinese, and a vietnamese person would have an easier time ELSEWHERE.

    BTW I have hit my radiation limit, so I am now being frisked at all airports with the body scanners!

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author JustinDupre
    Body Scanners would be good I think.. man it sure getting tougher and take more time to get in and out of airport nowadays but I guess we need it.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by JustinDupre View Post

      Body Scanners would be good I think.. man it sure getting tougher and take more time to get in and out of airport nowadays but I guess we need it.
      YEP! It is a GREAT way to cause problems, help doctors and hospitals, help the airlines go bankrupt, etc... YEP, I guess they can really use them. ME? NOPE!

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
    I agree the disguise looks grotesque and is more likely to draw attention than not. Morover, the US "accomplice" who gave him the boarding pass was born in 1955. There is now way that disguise looks like a man who is 55 years old.

    Air Canada is being investigated for a lapse in security. I suppose this means the Hong Kong airport. I just can't see how this could have been prevented by the usual security measures there. The airlines do not check identity documents again before boarding the flights. Hand luggage are not screened again before boarding.

    I have not traveled outside Asia since 911 so I am not sure whether the security measures would be different for airlines going to N. America.

    Derek
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by derekwong28 View Post

      I agree the disguise looks grotesque and is more likely to draw attention than not. Morover, the US "accomplice" who gave him the boarding pass was born in 1955. There is now way that disguise looks like a man who is 55 years old.

      Air Canada is being investigated for a lapse in security. I suppose this means the Hong Kong airport. I just can't see how this could have been prevented by the usual security measures there. The airlines do not check identity documents again before boarding the flights. Hand luggage are not screened again before boarding.

      I have not traveled outside Asia since 911 so I am not sure whether the security measures would be different for airlines going to N. America.

      Derek
      By US FEDERAL LAW, and I am sure INTERNATIONAL law, the airport is supposed to be considered a "STERILE" area! Unfortunately, they DO make exceptions for employees, military, and certain LEOs. But the idea is that you can NOT get in without going through a metal detector, and having your bags xrayed. I believe THAT law was in place since the 70s. NOW, since 9/11, they added having your ID and boarding pass examined and compared. Recently, they added body scanning or frisking.

      BTW apparently 9/11 was an INSIDE JOB! There were reports of box cutters on various flights for like a week. The idea is that someone that worked for maintenance or janitorial service placed box cutters in designated seats of various planes that could have flown that day. So the hijackers didn't have weapons that day. OBVIOUSLY, the sterile area concept has problems at its very core!

      If anyone DOES make it through without being checked, they are supposed to catch the guy. If they can't, they are unknown, or the area might be contaminated, they are supposed to pull everyone out, inspect, and RESCAN! Apparently they have done that AT LEAST TWICE in the past few years. Remember that guy that just HAD to make his flight to go to the football game? Or how about the guy that just HAD to go in to meet his girlfriend.

      That being said, there is ALSO, or at least was as of 9/11, a US FEDERAL LAW that prohibits anyone on a commercial flight from getting up within 30 minutes of reagan airport. Although at least two planes HAVE been rerouted, etc.... I have PERSONALLY been on several that HAVEN'T! They only threatened about 20% of the time. HECK, they only mentioned the law maybe 70% of the time.

      BTW Reagan is the one closest to the federal triangle, so the THEORY is that a terrorist could get up, take over the plane, and crash into the whitehouse or something before jets could be sent up to intercept.

      BTW there are SOME times they recheck documents and luggage in the US, before boarding. It is RARE and SPORADIC, but it HAS happened.

      BTW the US is not the only one that fails. I was in denmark, and could have EASILY gone on danish soil before the customs agent. The customs agent quickly stamped my passport, and never even noticed he stamped it with THE WRONG MONTH! ALSO, the US never checked even to see that I had my passport!!!!!

      Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
    Oh hell, it's only a Kurt costume.


    Ken
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  • Profile picture of the author gareth
    Whats the big deal - I always do this at the strip club
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    I guess you have to admit it was a good idea. He SHOULD have picked a younger guy, and had a mask based on the guy or MAYBE even prosthetics! HECK, if he changed his shirt, and tried to look like a REAL caucasian, he could maybe have made it through.

    You REALLY have to wonder how/why china does this though. I mean if they don't let chinese people outside of the country, wouldn't the populace wonder WHY and doubt ALL political info and stories about the outside? If they want to keep people inside, working and all, why do things like have parades in the street, etc..?

    BESIDES, it is best to keep other countries WONDERING as to what you have. The US military actually WATCHES those parades, and determines the POTENTIAL level of weaponry, readiness, and speed of development. If the US feels they fall behind chinas potential, they will determine ways to neutralize it, or even surpass it. So all it does is make it easier for other countries to determine things. Of course, the US DOES have other methods, but they apparently like this also! HECK, they want to keep the military and citizens PROUD, so they probably don't show equipment that is TOO obsolete.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
    The latest information from Hong Kong is that this is a professional job by human smugglers. The young man came from mainland China and would have pair thousands of dollars to the smugglers. The young man was simply told what to do by the smugglers. The mask was a made to measure mask to fit his face exactly.

    Once he got on board, all he had to do was to wait until the flight is near Canada (so there is no chance of turning back). He would then simply take off the mask and wait patitently to be arrested and then ask for asylum.

    Apparently, this is not an unusual case and it is possible a number of others have got through. But this is still a concern for anti-terrorism experts since there is now an apparent loophole in airport security. There are plain clothes agents at the Hong Kong airport to prevent this sort of thing but they didn't catch him.

    China does let people outside the country quite freely. They are no longer that worried about economic migration and brain drain. Witness the millions of students who have been educated abroad. Until recently, most do not go back but it is different now as the best career opportunities are often in China.

    As far as real dissidents are concerned, China exiles them for "medical treatment" periodically. Once a dissident does outside, he may not be allowed back in again even though his passport and citizenship is still valid. One of these incidents may have led to China losing the bid to host the Olympics in 2000. The issue here is those who want to emmigrate illegally i.e. whose receiving country would never issue them a visa in the first place. So what they have to do is to turn up and then ask for asylum.
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  • Profile picture of the author RustyF
    Must not have been too bad of a disguise. He got on the flight.
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