Chicago-bound airline passenger faces court hearing in Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A preliminary hearing is planned for an airline passenger accused of flying from Atlanta to Birmingham in one person's name, then obtaining boarding passes in someone else's name for two more flights.

The preliminary hearing for 30-year-old Robert Quran Hick is set for 1 p.m. Friday in federal court in Birmingham.

Hick is also accused of trying to enter a secured area of Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport by going up a downward escalator Sunday.

FBI agents say Hick arrived on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta, then got a United Airlines representative in Birmingham to give him boarding passes in someone else's name for two other flights to Chicago and Colorado Springs.

Kevin Butler of the federal public defender's office, which is representing Hick, didn't return phone calls regarding the case.