CBS News has learned that the woman boarded Delta Flight 264 from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. He was discovered while the plane was in the air and taken into custody in Paris.
In one Social media video Posted by a passenger, the captain could be heard on the plane’s intercom – as the plane landed in Paris – telling passengers “we’re just waiting for the police to come on board, ho They may be here now, and they’ve instructed us to keep everyone on the plane until we sort out the extra passenger on board.”
The circumstances of his search were unclear, and his name was not immediately released.
A Transportation Security Administration source told CBS News that the woman went through a body scanner with advanced imaging technology at a checkpoint at JFK Airport when she somehow managed to avoid the document and identification check portion of the TSA process. came Her bags were also scanned for contraband before she went to the gate and boarded the flight, sources said.
In a statement provided to CBS News, a TSA spokesperson said it “can confirm that an individual without a boarding pass completed airport security screening without any contraband. The individual bypassed the two identity verification and boarding status stations and was able to board the aircraft.”
In order to be present at the airline’s departure gate for boarding, an individual must have cleared a TSA security checkpoint.
After passing through TSA security, it’s unclear how the woman boarded the Boeing 767-400ER without showing Delta staff a boarding pass or passport.
“Nothing is more important than matters of safety and security,” Delta said in a statement. “That’s why Delta is conducting a thorough investigation of what happened and will work closely with other aviation stakeholders and law enforcement to that end.”
French law enforcement and the TSA are conducting separate investigations. A woman may face civil penalties or fines for neglecting the document verification process.
There is a new technology known as e-gates that is being rolled out at airports that involves the use of biometrics to check travel documents as part of the boarding process for international departures. Such technology would have captured the stowaway.