For some people, the desire to board a plane without purchasing a ticket, for whatever thrill they seek, is so strong that even the risk of being arrested is insufficient deterrent. A few days ago, it was reported that someone was arrested for attempting to fly from Seattle to Hawaii on a Delta jet without a ticket. However, she returned to the airport a few days later to try it again.
One more attempt
A 33-year-old lady was arrested at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) for trespassing, her second attempt in as many days. Fortunately, this time she was unable to board an airplane and was captured before passing through airport security screening.
A vigilant cop recognized her from CCTV footage. When challenged and asked about her motive for being at the airport, she was unable to provide a credible response.
According to Seattle’s local news source King 5, the woman stated that she was at the airport to meet her sister. She did not, however, have a ticket or any information regarding the flight on which her sister was scheduled to arrive.
When she was shown the CCTV film from Christmas Eve, when she was arrested for attempting to fly on a plane without a ticket, she stated,
“Yes that is me, but I was already arrested for that.”
Simple Flying asked Seattle Airport for a statement and received the following answer from the airport’s Media Relations Manager, Perry Cooper:
“Ms. Small was arrested the night of the 27th for trespassing. She was arrested pre-security and had not passed through any of the checkpoints.”
According to King 5, the woman was detained for first-degree criminal trespassing, which carries a maximum sentence of 364 days or $5,000 in fines, or both.
Previous attempt
The first attempt occurred on Christmas Eve aboard Delta Flight 487 between Seattle and Honolulu. According to accounts, the Airbus A321 had begun taxiing out when cabin crew members realized that one of the plane’s passengers did not have a ticket for the flight.
King 5 obtained court documents revealing that the woman cut in front of the line at an airport checkpoint and managed to escape being inspected for her ID and boarding card.
It was also revealed that after clearing airport security, she attempted to board at least two aircraft before finally settling on for the Delta flight to Hawaii. Delta issued a statement that read,
“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. We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travels and thank them for their patience and cooperation.”
Compulsive behavior
One would think that being caught once would stop people from trying something similar again, but this is definitely not the case with certain people. The woman involved in the Seattle airport incident isn’t alone.
In November, a 57-year-old woman boarded a Delta Air Lines trip from New York’s JFK Airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle without a ticket.
In an alarming breach of security, she walked through all critical airport checkpoints where documents such as boarding passes and visas are validated, as well as the TSA security checkpoint, and boarded the plane.
The woman is a Russian citizen but resides in the United States. She appears to have taken advantage of the traffic jam at JFK caused by Thanksgiving holiday travel, when airport officials were overloaded with an additional workload.
However, she was arrested again while attempting to cross the border into Canada. According to CNN, she did not fly on her second attempt, instead boarding a Greyhound bus destined for Canada.
