Passenger says crew ignored warning about man in disguise on plane from Hong Kong

A man in custody is shown with and without his disguise in this handout image released to Reuters on November 5, 2010.

ANDY CLARK/REUTERS

VANCOUVER—An Air Canada passenger says she spotted a man in a silicone mask on her flight, but was ignored when she tried to warn the air crew.

Nuray Kurtur-Balas says the October 29th flight was still on the ground in Hong Kong when she told three flight attendants she suspected a fellow passenger was wearing a disguise.

She was talking about the young Chinese man who boarded the flight disguised as an elderly Caucasian man.

Kurtur-Balas told C-N-N she feared the man was going to blow up the plane and she kept her iPhone close to call her family should anything happen.

The 35-year old clothing retail production manager says she told the flight attendants the passenger’s heavily wrinkled face looked like plastic and didn’t match his young looking hands.

She says one flight attendant complimented her on her observation, another said he’d look into it, and the third said the man might have a medical condition—but no action was taken.

It was only after the flight took off and the man removed his mask that the air crew alerted authorities to meet the plane when it landed in Vancouver.

The 22-year old Chinese man remains in detention while seeking asylum in Canada.