A man who boarded a Paris‑bound Air France flight in Arizona with no valid boarding pass faces federal charges after the plane had to be evacuated. 

Qais Ahmad Tillawi cleared TSA and boarded Air France Flight 069 on January 25 despite his ticket being canceled earlier that day for an 'unauthorized credit card,' according to an FBI affidavit.

Tillawi bought his ticket at 2pm and checking into his flight before Air France canceled his boarding pass, according to the complaint. 

When he arrived at the terminal at Phoenix Sky Harbor, he abandoned his rental car, threw away two jackets in a trash can.

Despite his boarding pass being cancelled, Tillawi was out of TSA by 3pm.

At the gate, his boarding pass set off an alert, but he still pushed ahead. 

An Air France agent demanded his passport, but Tillawi refused to hand it over, at one point holding it inches from her face before she gave a thumbs‑up for him to pull it back.

She later admitted she'd only checked one passenger list and didn't see his name, yet still let him stroll down the jet bridge and board the plane. 

A passenger alerted the crew that they thought Tillawi was acting suspiciously, but the employee did not relay the information until he was removed from the aircraft. 

Once on board, crew members said Tillawi paced two laps in the economy cabin instead of taking a seat.

When confronted by the crew, Tillawi remained silent, offering only a digital boarding pass for seat 44D. 

However, a check revealed he wasn't listed on the flight. When the captain ordered him to disembark, Tillawi refused, instead typing 'Send the USA marshal' on his phone.

The standoff forced the captain to evacuate the entire aircraft so police could board and remove him. 

Tillawi only surrendered once the cabin was empty.

During questioning, Tillawi acknowledged his Miranda rights but insisted on typing his answers for 'personal reasons.' 

He described himself as a 'citizen of the world' and a self-employed consultant with 'access to financial services,' claiming he lived exclusively in hotels.

When asked about his behavior on the plane, his story shifted. He first claimed he simply preferred to stand while traveling, but later typed that his assigned seat felt 'suspicious and wrong,' though he refused to explain why.

Tillawi justified his refusal to cooperate by claiming the flight crew lacked 'official identification.' 

He told investigators he felt his life was in danger and would only comply with US Marshals, citing his rights as an American citizen.

A search of his belongings uncovered a massive haul of documents: 20 bank cards, multiple driver's licenses from Arizona and California, and both US and Jordanian passports. 

Investigators also found a Jordanian military service book and several fake employee badges for the US Department of Veterans Affairs and firms like IBM and Deloitte. He was also carrying over $1,000 in cash.

His brother, speaking to investigators from Jordan, said Tillawi attended Arizona State University and spoke fluent English. He added that Tillawi was fired from his job in mid‑2024, had a history of drug use, and had been diagnosed with psychosis. 

In 2024, he was detained at Dubai airport for suspicious behavior and briefly committed to a mental‑health facility. 

Since then, Tillawi had been unemployed, living in hotels while traveling between the US and the Middle East, and rarely speaking to his family. 

Tillawi has been charged with interference with flight crew members, a federal felony, and entering a secure airport area in violation of security requirements, a misdemeanor. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to Air France for comment.