A stowaway without ticket, boarding pass or identification documents was able to make it all the way through Nashville Airport (BNA) security and onto an American Airlines flight and went on to travel all the way to its final destination, according to media statements in early February.
Series of coincidences
The female passenger avoided detection and Transport Security Administrators (TSA) by apparently “hopping” past an unattended area of a first checkpoint, where normally she would have been asked for ID. The woman then managed to pass through a second layer of security unnoticed.
A regional TSA spokesperson, Mark Howell, said she was able to “blend” into the security line, which she was able to get through since there “was nothing illegal or suspicious on her person or her bags, and she continued away from the security checkpoint without incident.” The TSA has insisted in a statement that “the traveller in question was physically screened, along with their carry-on items, without incident at the Nashville International Airport security checkpoint on February 7th before boarding the flight.”
In a further coincidence that allowed the woman to get aboard the flight, no one checked her boarding pass at the departure gate, which is a breach of standard procedures.
Arrested on arrival
Flight AA1393 to Los Angeles (LAX) lasted five hours, during which American Airlines realised they had welcomed an undocumented flyer aboard and communicated with security teams on the ground.
On arrival on the west coast, the intruder was “greeted” and arrested by law enforcement, the airline said, speaking to The Post. “Our top priorities are safety and security,” the carrier added, “and we are aiding law enforcement in their investigation.” The TSA has said it is also cooperating with the enquiries.
Airside security breaches
The incident comes after a number of other recent airside security breaches, including a British fugitive who managed to fly undetected all the way from London Heathrow to New York’s JFK – where he was promptly arrested and sent back – only to escape again.
A Russian-Israeli meanwhile is facing a five-year US federal jail term for stowing away on a Scandinavian Airlines flight from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Los Angeles in January. He has reportedly claimed he had no memory of boarding the aircraft.
And, in November 2023, a woman was arrested after leaving onlookers “flatfooted” when she made a runway incursion and appeared to attempt to flag down a plane at Canberra Airport, Australia.
