Boy hops plane to Vegas, apparently alone and without ticket


Boy 9,sneaks on plane to vegas.

(CNN) -- A flight to America's adult playground, Las
Vegas, had an unusual passenger last week: a 9-year-
old boy traveling on his own, apparently without a
ticket.
The boy went through security with all other
passengers, the Transportation Security Administration
said in a statement, but officials are still trying to figure
out how he did it -- and how he then got on the flight.
Patrick Hogan, a spokesman for Minneapolis-St. Paul
International Airport, said the crew of Delta Flight 1651
"became suspicious of the child's circumstances"
during the flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas. Crew
members got in touch with authorities in Las Vegas and
turned the boy over to Child Protective Services, Hogan
said in a statement.
"Fortunately, the flight crew took appropriate actions to
ensure the child's safety, so the story does have a good
ending," he said.
Delta said it takes the incident "very seriously" and is
working with authorities.
The airline spells out its policy about
children flying solo plainly on its website.
Children between the ages of 5 and 14
may travel alone as part of the
unaccompanied minor program. Someone
from Delta pays special attention to the
children, walks them on board, shows
them their seats and even introduces them
to the cockpit crew, time permitting, Delta
says, adding, "Kids love this part."
Airport officials reviewed security footage
and don't think the child had a ticket,
CNN affiliate KARE reported.
The boy, a runaway from the Twin Cities,
spent a good amount of time at the airport before
boarding the plane, KARE said.
He was there the day before, the station reported, citing
airport officials. He passed his time by taking luggage
from a carousel, bringing it to an airport eatery and
then ditching it, asking a server to watch the bag "while
he went to the restroom."
The following day the child took the train to the airport,
cleared security and made it to Las Vegas nearly
without detection.
"Obviously, the fact that the child's actions weren't
detected until he was in flight is concerning," Hogan
wrote. Still, 33 million people travel through
Minneapolis' airport every year, he noted. "I don't
know of another instance in my 13 years at the airport
in which anything similar has happened," he said.
Man pleads guilty to slapping crying boy on Delta flight
A flight security expert said it's very concerning that the
child made it through several security checks.
"All of this (security) since 9/11 has been to keep us
safe. And it has, but still we have gaping holes, and this
is a perfect example of it," Terry Trippler of
ThePlaneRules.com told KARE.
The incident may be a first for Minneapolis, but over
the years other airports have had similar incidents.
In 2007, another 9-year-old managed to fly from
Seattle to Phoenix to San Antonio before being found
out. He had a boarding pass, though. His mother told
CNN her son gave ticketing agents a fake name.
Last year an 11-year-old boy in Manchester, England,
managed to slip away from his mother during a
shopping trip . He made it all the way to Rome without
a boarding pass or a passport. But any Colosseum
dreams were dashed. He never left the airport in Rome
and was returned to his parents the same day.

Comments