‘The individual bypassed the identity verification and boarding status stations and boarded an aircraft’ at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, TSA said in a statement. An unticketed passenger was kicked off of a Delta Airlines flight from Seattle to Hawaii.
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. The unticketed passenger was discovered when the plane was taxiing after it left the gate and law enforcement apprehended the individual. The plane returned to the gate and the person was taken off the aircraft.
“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,” a Delta spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent. “We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travels and thank them for their patience and cooperation.”.
An investigation is ongoing but early indications suggest the unticketed passenger boarded the flight at the gate without presenting a boarding pass, according to the airline. 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.
