Amid the Thanksgiving travel rush, a woman managed to get through airport security in New York without a boarding pass and take a flight to Paris, where she was taken into custody.
Delta Air Lines flight 264 departed New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport bound for Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on Tuesday, with the stowaway somehow going unnoticed at the time, as multiple media outlets reported Wednesday.
“[The] individual without a boarding pass completed security screening (including on-person and bags) without any prohibited items,” a Transportation Security Administration spokesperson confirmed to HuffPost in a statement. “The individual bypassed two identity verification and boarding status stations and boarded the aircraft.”
The agency added, “TSA will independently review the circumstances of this incident at our travel document checker station at JFK to ensure future incidents do not occur.”
Speaking to CNN, Rob Jackson, a passenger on the flight, recalled how there was an onboard announcement when the plane was parked at a gate in Paris asking that everyone stay seated since police would be boarding the aircraft.
“We’re just waiting for the police to come on board,” the captain said, adding that flight staff were told “to keep everyone on the airplane until we sort out the extra passenger that’s on the plane.”
Delta Air Lines said in a statement sent to HuffPost that it is “conducting an exhaustive investigation of what may have occurred and will work collaboratively with other aviation stakeholders and law enforcement to that end.”
No further details on the woman’s identity or how she managed to get on the flight have been released.
HuffPost has reached out to Charles de Gaulle Airport for comment.
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