US authorities have charged a man for stowing away on a flight from Copenhagen to Los Angeles without a ticket or passport. Sergey Ochigava, 46, possessed Israeli and Russian ID cards, but his citizenship remains unknown, as revealed in recently released charging documents.

During the 12-hour journey, Ochigava, who pleaded not guilty, did not attempt to conceal himself on the plane and engaged in conversation with fellow passengers.

Despite initially claiming to have left his passport on the plane upon arrival in LA on November 4, no passport was located, and there was no record of his flight booking or visa request for entry into the US.

In interviews with US investigators, Ochigava mentioned the possibility of having a plane ticket but expressed uncertainty, attributing his lack of memory about boarding the Scandinavian Airlines flight to sleep deprivation and an inability to recall passing through security at the Danish airport.

He is scheduled to appear in court later this month.

Officials were also unable to determine how he came to be in Denmark in the first place before departing for the US.

He said he last worked as an economist in Russia "long ago".

Airline crew members said he moved throughout the plane, switching seats several times. They did not notice that they had flown with an extra passenger until investigators contacted them.

Mr. Ochigava "asked for two meals during each meal service, and at one point attempted to eat the chocolate that belonged to members of the cabin crew", the indictment said.

One flight attendant told investigators that it looked like he "was trying to talk to other passengers on the flight, but most of the passengers ignored him".

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