Man With COVID Impersonates Wife to Board Flight

An Indonesian man who tested positive for coronavirus was arrested after boarding a flight dressed as his wife and presenting her negative COVID-19 test.

According to The Associated Press, the unnamed man boarded a Citilink plane on Sunday and traveled from Jakarta to Ternate in the North Maluku province of Indonesia, but he used his wife’s niqab to cover his face and her identification card to purchase a ticket.

Ternate police chief Aditya Laksimada said a flight attendant on the plane noticed the ‘woman’ enter the plane’s bathroom and come out dressed like a man. Officers were called and met the plane when it landed to arrest the male passenger.

The man was found with his wife’s identity card, PCR test results and vaccination card. When officials gave the unruly traveler a COVID-19 test, he tested positive and was sent home to self-quarantine.

Police have launched a full investigation and charges are pending.

Incidents of unruly passengers have increased since the coronavirus pandemic began, as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported an uptick in incidents, recording almost 100 cases of naughty travelers in the past week alone as more people return to the sky.

Last week, a Canadian man upset about baggage fees told an airline employee there was a bomb in his bag. He was arrested, charged with making a false report concerning planting a bomb, explosive or weapon of mass destruction and now faces up to 15 years in prison.