A flight to America's adult playground, Las Vegas, had an unusual passenger last week: a 9-year-old boy traveling on his own, apparently without a ticket.
The boy went through security with all other passengers, the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement, but officials are still trying to figure out how he did it -- and how he then got on the flight.
Patrick Hogan, a spokesman for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, said the crew of Delta Flight 1651 "became suspicious of the child's circumstances" during the flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas. Crew members got in touch with authorities in Las Vegas and turned the boy over to Child Protective Services, Hogan said in a statement.
"Fortunately, the flight crew took appropriate actions to ensure the child's safety, so the story does have a good ending," he said.
Delta said it takes the incident "very seriously" and is working with authorities.
9-year-old sneaks on flight to Vegas Is U.S. airport security flawed?
The airline spells out its policy about children flying solo plainly on its website.
Children between the ages of 5 and 14 may travel alone as part of the unaccompanied minor program. Someone from Delta pays special attention to the children, walks them on board, shows them their seats and even introduces them to the crew, time permitting, Delta says, adding, "Kids love this part."
I heard about this on the news. It's ridiculous that with so much fear of terrorists sneaking onto a plane, and with such high security measures, a child got onto a flight with such little inconvenience. It's good though that officials were able to secure him and get him home safe.
I saw this, apparently to pass the time he was taking luggage from the carousel and taking to the nearby cafe and then ditching it by asking the waitress to watch it as he went to the bathroom. :P
This is scary to me because of the lack of security surronding the incident. It is amazing how a child, who was probably not trying to sneak and scheme can get on a plane without a ticket. If security can't stop this kid, how will they stop a criminal or other major disasters?
This is just bad security on the airports fault. I mean i cant really blame them because When have you seen a kid walking around unaccompanied by an adult and thought oh that kids pearnts must be around here somewhere. Just have to be a little more willing to ask the kid if he has a parent around.