Vlogger illegally smuggling himself onto a plane in a suitcase
Adam Saleh, who runs a popular comedy YouTube channel, alleges that he checked onto a TigerAir flight from Melbourne to Sydney undetected, although the airline disputes the claims.
Prankster Saleh filmed the entire trip from inside a suitcase and published the video online, racking up more than 150,000 views in under 24 hours.
The journey started in a hotel room in Melbourne, where Saleh’s friends are seen zipping him into a £200 suitcase, with just a video camera for company. There is barely enough room for the grown man’s arms and legs and as the zipper closes, the comic can be heard saying: ‘I am so scared, I don’t know if I’m going to survive.’
Following a short journey to Melbourne airport in the boot of a taxi where Saleh is already becoming increasingly uncomfortable, his friends wheel his suitcase over to the automated check-in area for their flight.
According to Saleh, their check-in desk is fully operated by a computer, so no one will be able to question the weight of the bag. He said: ‘I heard when you check in the luggage, no one checks the luggage so you can just check in and go.’
The group come across some issues though, when the computer says the bag exceeds the 30kg weight restrictions. But after claiming to pay an extra fee, the suitcase appears to head away on the conveyor belt. Inside the bag, the comic is seen to become increasingly sweaty as he is shaken around.
Meanwhile, his friends are on the plane enjoying a snack and a soft drink, while the seat that they claim Saleh should have been sitting in is seen to be empty. After the flight, Saleh’s friends are pictured at the luggage carousel, waiting for what they say is a suitcase containing their friend.
Saleh has continued to film inside the bag, claiming that he has been zipped up for an hour and forty minutes while the flight happened. As they stand next to the conveyor belt, a suitcase with a moving hand rolls past and they haul it onto the floor, opening the bag to reveal a very sweaty Saleh. As he shouts: ‘I made it from Melbourne all the way to Sydney, I’m just happy to be alive,’ fellow passengers at the carousel watch in confusion.
The vlogger is keen to point out throughout the video that the prank he is playing is very dangerous and that nobody should try to copy him.
But TigerAir has since seen the video and claim that there are several inconsistencies which show the prank to be a fake. In an open letter to the vlogger, the airline said: ‘Firstly, you wouldn’t have been accepted by our automated bag drop machines at 66kg as a friendly staff member would have stepped in to assist.
‘Secondly, some aircraft have heated baggage holds but the aircraft you were on does not and it gets pretty cold at 36,000 feet so by the time you arrived in Sydney you would have been a popsicle.
‘Thirdly, we have footage of you boarding the aircraft using your legs.’
In addition, a representative for TigerAir told Sun Online: ‘The safety and wellbeing of our staff and customers is always our number one priority and was not compromised at any time.
‘The airline industry in Australia is highly regulated and has amongst the strictest standards in the world. ‘Tigerair Australia has a zero tolerance for inappropriate behaviour and has investigated this matter as a priority. ‘We can confirm that the footage is not genuine and we have requested that the footage be removed as a consequence.’
