SEATTLE — A Delta Airlines flight from Seattle to Honolulu was delayed by two hours after an unticketed passenger was discovered onboard.
The Christmas Eve flight had to turn back to the gate after it had already begun taxiing and was almost ready to take off, KIRO reported. But those on board at the time didn’t know why.
“Nobody knew really what was going on. So we were kind of left in the dark” Brady Bly told KIRO. Bly said they were told the flight had a security breach and passengers had to get off the aircraft and get another TSA screening. The plane also was swept by K9 teams.
When they got back on the plane, the pilot finally said an “unauthorized passenger” had been on board the first time.
The stowaway disembarked the plane with everyone else and was finally found in an airport restroom.
The person, who was not identified, was charged with criminal trespass. It was later found that the person went through a TSA checkpoint on Monday night. They were screened properly but did not have a boarding pass.
The TSA said: “TSA can confirm an individual did go through standard screening and did not possess any prohibited items. The individual bypassed the identity verification and boarding status stations and boarded an aircraft at Seattle/Tacoma International (SEA) without a boarding pass. TSA takes any incidents that occur at any of our checkpoints nationwide seriously. TSA will independently review the circumstances of this incident at our travel document checker station at Seattle/Tacoma International.”
Delta released a statement which read: “As there are no matters more important than safety and security, Delta people followed procedures to have an unticketed passenger removed from the flight and then apprehended. We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travels and thank them for their patience and cooperation.”
Port of Seattle Police, the TSA and Delta Airlines are working together to see how the person was able to get through screening without a boarding pass and end up on the airplane.
This is the second time an unticketed passenger was able to board a Delta flight. The first one, Svetlana Dali, flew to Paris from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport last month, ABC News reported. Dali was returned to the U.S. when it was discovered she didn’t have a visa for France. She was arrested a week after she cut off her ankle monitor and tried to travel to Canada by Greyhound Bus.
© 2024 Cox Media Group
Sign Up
