Stowaways Discovered On Plane At Dulles Airport

DULLES AIRPORT, Va. (WUSA) -- Investigators are looking into what can only be described as a major security breach.

Two stowaways were discovered Wednesday on an Ethiopian Airlines flight that landed at Dulles International Airport.

Even so, the regional director for Ethiopian Airlines says security at Addis Ababa Airport, where the two men got on-board is one of the tightest in the world.

A spokesman says the two men who hid themselves in the ceiling of the aircraft appear to be Ethiopian Nationals, part of a cleaning crew that cleaned the plane just before take-off.

Government officials tell 9NEWS NOW the two men are not suspected of engaging in either terrorist or criminal activity and, absent new developments, are likely to be charged with the misdemeanor offense of entering the country without inspection.

The incident concerns Mark Weiss, a former pilot who now serves as a security consultant to the Allied Pilots Association.

"I think one of the most important things is to continually recognize that we have to be vigilant, not only within this country, but around the world. Obviously if these people...and it is my understanding that they came in for economic reasons, then it leads one to believe that you can just as easily come in for more nefarious reasons. If you wanted to put something on an airplane, and people can be bribed, it asks the question about security, perimeter security, security at airports. When you come through a process, a screening process, it asks the questions of vetting employees around the world, and what kind of oversight our government, our Transportation Security Agency, our State Department have in control over airlines that fly into the United States," Weiss said.

With no answers as to how the men went undiscovered for 36 hours, including a stop-over in Rome, a security expert told 9NEWS NOW, "If you can store human bodies, you can certainly store a bomb or put weapons on board." Larry Johnson says the TSA and FAA should demand better security measures by airlines overseas or suspend flying privileges in the U.S.