Another stowaway sneaks on Delta flight, this time at Seattle airport

Delta caught an unticketed passenger on a flight from Seattle to Honolulu, marking the second stowaway on the airline in less than three weeks.

The individual was caught on Delta flight 487 while the aircraft was taxiing on Tuesday, according to a Delta spokesperson. After the person was discovered, the plane returned to the terminal and the individual left the aircraft, Perry Cooper with the Port of Seattle relayed to MyNorthwest.

Cooper said with the help of video surveillance, the Port of Seattle Police Department found the individual in a terminal restroom, arrested them for criminal trespassing and booked them into the
South Correctional Entity in Des Moines.

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The plane was then swept by K9s, Cooper reported, along with the areas in the terminal accessed by the stowaway. The aircraft was subsequently deplaned and all passengers were escorted by TSA to return to the security checkpoint for rescreening.

Further investigation revealed the unticketed person managed to get through a TSA security checkpoint at the Seattle-Tacoma International (Sea-Tac) Airport on Monday without a boarding pass but was properly screened, Cooper stated. He said the individual was then able to get through to the loading bridge without a scanned ticket at the gate.

“The Port of Seattle Police will continue to work with the airlines and TSA regarding the situation,” Cooper stated.

According to the Delta spokesperson, the flight was delayed for 2 hours and 15 minutes before continuing to Honolulu at 3 p.m.

“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,” the Delta spokesperson stated. “We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travels and thank them for their patience and cooperation.”

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A similar situation occurred in November, as reported by The Associated Press (AP).

According to a criminal complaint obtained by the AP, a woman allegedly flew from New York to Paris as a stowaway on a Delta flight. The document said she snuck past TSA by hiding among a flight crew heading through a special lane for employees.

The woman underwent security but never had to show a ticket, according to the AP. She then managed to get by the agent at the gate, only to be discovered once the plane was in the air. Once in Paris, the woman was met by French law enforcement and was detained at the gate.

Contributing: Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.