The feds may charge a pair of brothers who somehow boarded a Tokyo-bound flight in Los Angeles with only a single ticket — forcing the flight to turn around and prompting a tweetstorm from supermodel Chrissy Teigen.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News the brothers cleared security at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday with legit tickets, but were booked on separate flights to Tokyo.
One had a ticket on a United Airlines flight while the other had a ticket for an All Nippon Airways flight, the network reported.
The unidentified brothers both boarded the Nippon flight by using a duplicate boarding pass, authorities believe.
It took the plane’s clueless crew about four hours to figure out they had the unauthorized sneak aboard, and the plane then headed back to LAX.
Authorities grilled the pair upon landing but then released them and did not immediately file charges — but that could change.
Nippon Airways said they were trying to figure out how the passenger with the United ticket was able to get on board.
“During the flight, the cabin crew became aware that one of the passengers boarded the incorrect flight and notified the pilot,” ANA said in a statement.
“As part of the airline’s security procedure, the pilot in command decided to return to the originating airport, where the passenger was disembarked. ANA is researching the situation currently to determine how the passenger boarded the flight.”
The passenger list included Teigen and her husband, singer John Legend.
Teigen started tweeting to her 9.2 million followers about her “flight to nowhere” and chronicled the whole ordeal.
“[A] flying first for me: 4 hours into an 11 hour flight and we are turning around because we have a passenger who isn’t supposed to be on this plane. Why…why do we all gotta go back, I do not know,” she wrote.
“Lmao after all this I will have spent 8 hours on a flight to nowhere. Like we were all just havin a great time up here flyin in the sky watching gran torino time to go home now,” she added.
She later slammed the airline’s decision to turn around.
“Why did we all get punished for this one person’s mistake? Why not just land in Tokyo and send the other person back? How is this the better idea, you ask? We all have the same questions,” Teigen tweeted.
FBI agents told ABC News on Wednesday that the investigation is ongoing.
If investigators determine there was intent to board the incorrect flight, one of the brothers could be accused of being a stowaway, a federal offense punishable by up to five years behind bars.
The airline could face a stiff fine from US Customs and Border Protection for letting the passenger board and not taking an accurate headcount.