During the busy holiday travel season, another unticketed individual attempted to board a Delta Air Lines flight.
The unnamed stowaway got onto a flight from Seattle to Honolulu on Christmas Eve. Delta, which is headquartered in Atlanta, reported that the unauthorized passenger was identified while the plane was preparing for takeoff.
In accordance with standard procedures, the airline returned the aircraft to the gate to remove the stowaway, and law enforcement intervened to apprehend the individual. The Port of Seattle, which manages the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, stated that all other passengers had to disembark and go back through a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint for rescreening as a precautionary measure.
Delta flight 487 eventually departed Seattle and proceeded to Honolulu, though it experienced a delay of 2 hours and 15 minutes due to the incident.
“Safety and security are our top priorities, and our team followed the necessary procedures to ensure the removal and apprehension of the unticketed passenger,” a spokesperson for Delta commented in a statement, expressing gratitude to customers for their understanding and cooperation throughout the ordeal.
The Port of Seattle revealed that the stowaway had passed through a TSA security checkpoint the previous evening without possessing a boarding pass, yet was screened appropriately. Additionally, the individual accessed the boarding bridge of the flight without a valid ticket, according to port officials.
Police from the Port of Seattle were called to the scene shortly after 1 p.m. on Tuesday in response to reports of a “suspicious circumstance.” By the time law enforcement arrived, the individual had exited the aircraft. However, authorities were able to locate the stowaway in a terminal restroom, aided by video surveillance. They subsequently arrested the individual for criminal trespass.
A TSA spokesperson acknowledged that the individual had undergone standard screening and carried no prohibited items. The agency emphasized its seriousness regarding incidents at checkpoints across the country and indicated that an independent review would be conducted.
This event took place less than a month after a different stowaway incident involving Delta. During the Thanksgiving week, a woman named Svetlana Dali, a Russian with permanent resident status in the U.S., successfully bypassed security measures at John F. Kennedy International Airport and flew to Paris as an unauthorized passenger on a Delta flight on November 26. She was detained upon landing and subsequently transported back to the U.S.