An elderly white man gets on a plane. But a young Asian man gets off the same plane in his place. No, it’s not the lead-in line of a bad joke. But it is a true story that has rocked and shocked all who’ve heard it.
In what the Canada Border Services Agency is calling an “unbelievable case of concealment,” this is the intriguing tale of a young Asian man who managed to board an Air Canada flight in Hong Kong while elaborately disguised as an elderly Caucasian male, because he was seeking refugee status in Vancouver.
The unnamed man boarded Flight AC018 in Hong Kong on October 29th wearing glasses, a brown cardigan sweater, a leather cap and a remarkable silicone mask which was so authentic, it made him look like an elderly gentleman. The passenger was seen at the start of the flight as an “elderly Caucasian male who appeared to have young looking hands,” the CBSA said. But later in the flight after a quick trip to the restroom, he emerged as an Asian looking male who appeared to be in his early 20s. It was the sort of quick-change artistry that would have made Superman jealous.
Border services officials believe the young man managed to get on the plane with nothing more than an Aeroplan card and a boarding pass that he somehow obtained from a 55-year-old American passenger. Authorities are naturally investigating all details of this bizarre tale.
