In a second occurrence this holiday season for the airline, another stowaway has been caught aboard a Delta flight just before takeoff on Friday.
According to a CNN report on the incident, Delta flight 487 from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was taxiing for takeoff to Honolulu when the unticketed passenger was discovered.
An airport spokesperson told CNN that the stowaway had gone through a TSA security checkpoint the evening before the flight without a boarding pass. The person then gained access to the loading bridge without a scanned ticket at the gate.
After the crew found the stowaway, the aircraft returned to the gate, and the individual was removed and arrested for criminal trespass.
The incident has reignited a conversation around airport hitchhikers and security protocol. Just a month prior to this incident, Delta had another unticketed passenger hitch a ride from New York to Paris. After some delays, that individual was eventually brought back to the U.S.
CBS reported the individual was charged with obtaining transportation on an aircraft without consent or permission – and she was later apprehended once again while attempting to cross the border into Canada.
Christmas Eve Stowaway
Additionally, the body of a third stowaway was recently found in one of the main wheel wells of a United Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner after it flew from Chicago O’Hare to Kahului Airport in Hawaii. The stowaway, later pronounced dead, was discovered on Christmas Eve after flight 202 flew for nearly nine hours.
(Photo: AirlineGeeks | Fabian Behr)
The TSA placed some blame for the security breach on a lack of funding for screening technology. The agency has proposed “e-gates” to be combined with its facial recognition technology to only open and allow ticketed passengers access to a gate. Many airports worldwide already use this technology, including several in Europe.
