A 12-year-old boy believed to be Dutch is giving airport authorities and the Scotland Yard a major headache, after he was able to board a British Airways plane without ticket or any type of documentation.
Authorities believe the boy is a transit passenger and got on the plane as part of some dare, The Telegraph writes. For the time being, though, they’re still working to establish his identity and determine how he was able to pass all security checks and board the plane.
The only reason he was stopped is that cabin crew asked for his ticket so they could show him to his seat. He failed to provide one or any documentation, and became belligerent when confronted about it. In the end, he had to be escorted off the BA flight from London to Los Angeles by the police.
The incident (or dare, if that’s what it was) translated into a 4-hour delay to the flight. Because the boy would not cooperate, no one could determine which was his luggage, so they had to de-plane everyone and go through security checks and boarding once more.
It is believed the boy was traveling without his parents.
What was probably a fun thing to do for him is turning into criticism on the lax security system at one of the biggest airports in the U.K. BA insists that the boy passed through the same controls as every other passenger on the flight, but authorities believed he literally squeezed in by sticking close to adult passengers who had been cleared for boarding.
“We are working with our police colleagues and British Airways to understand how an unauthorized passenger boarded the incorrect aircraft,” a spokesperson for Heathrow Airport says in a statement to the media outlet.
“The individual did not represent a security risk and, purely as a precaution, the aircraft in question was re-screened and has since departed. We apologize for the disruption and will continue working closely with the authorities and our airline partners to keep the airport safe.”
The only reason he was stopped is that cabin crew asked for his ticket so they could show him to his seat. He failed to provide one or any documentation, and became belligerent when confronted about it. In the end, he had to be escorted off the BA flight from London to Los Angeles by the police.
The incident (or dare, if that’s what it was) translated into a 4-hour delay to the flight. Because the boy would not cooperate, no one could determine which was his luggage, so they had to de-plane everyone and go through security checks and boarding once more.
It is believed the boy was traveling without his parents.
What was probably a fun thing to do for him is turning into criticism on the lax security system at one of the biggest airports in the U.K. BA insists that the boy passed through the same controls as every other passenger on the flight, but authorities believed he literally squeezed in by sticking close to adult passengers who had been cleared for boarding.
“We are working with our police colleagues and British Airways to understand how an unauthorized passenger boarded the incorrect aircraft,” a spokesperson for Heathrow Airport says in a statement to the media outlet.
“The individual did not represent a security risk and, purely as a precaution, the aircraft in question was re-screened and has since departed. We apologize for the disruption and will continue working closely with the authorities and our airline partners to keep the airport safe.”