Person sneaks onto Delta flight from Seattle to Hawaii without a boarding pass before being booted from plane
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
An unticketed passenger was kicked off of a Delta Airlines flight from Seattle to Hawaii, according to a report.
The person, who has not been named, was able to board a Delta flight set to travel from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Honolulu Tuesday without a boarding pass. Before the plane departed, the individual was apprehended and taken off the aircraft, NBC News reported.
The unticketed passenger was discovered when the plane was taxiing after it left the gate, according to the outlet.
Delta flight 487 was delayed for more than two hours, a flight log on FlightAware shows.
“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,” the airline told the outlet in a statement.
The Independent has reached out to the airline for more information.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) confirmed in a statement to The Independent that the individual in question underwent standard screening and didn’t 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,” the agency said.
“TSA will independently review the circumstances of this incident at our travel document checker station at Seattle/Tacoma International,” the statement continued.
The incident comes weeks after a Russian woman evaded security at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and flew to Paris as a stowaway on a Delta flight on November 26, during peak Thanksgiving travel.
French law enforcement detained Svetlana Dali, 57, at the Paris gate; she was flown back to New York, where she now faces a federal charge of being a stowaway. She was released on bail with certain conditions.
