DELTA passengers were forced to deplane after a woman boarded the flight without any ID or a boarding pass.
The flight was then delayed for three hours as the female passenger refused to get off the aircraft.
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A passenger uncovered the security breach on flight 1516 to Atlanta after the woman took her seat.
According to the passenger who didn’t want to be identified, the woman refused to get up from the seat.
They said: “I also had a boarding pass for that seat, and she said very bluntly, ‘I’m not moving.'”
The passenger told WFTV she asked for a flight attendant who came over and noted the woman wasn’t listed on the flight’s manifest.
The pilot and a supervisor then reportedly tried to remove the woman to no avail.
When they asked for her boarding pass, the woman said she threw it away and when they asked for her ID, she showed them a photo of herself on her phone, WFTV reported.
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The passenger recalled a conversation between the woman and the flight attendant.
They explained: “‘Well, I’m showing you a picture ID,’ the woman said.
“‘Ma’am, that’s not a government-issued ID. That’s a photo,’ the flight attendant said.
“‘Well, this is just as good,’ the woman said. ‘No, ma’am, it’s not just as good,’ the flight attendant said.”
The crew eventually told her that she was “breaking federal law”.
Soon after, the pilot called the police who were able to remove the woman.
She reportedly left the plane cursing, to the confusion of many other passengers.
The passenger on board said: “We were stopped pretty quickly, and the pilot explained it was because the lady was not cooperating with TSA, and she did not have a ticket to any airline at all.
“They could not figure out how she even got on the plane.”
They said TSA agents and dogs searched the plane for about an hour, and workers patted down every passenger and searched their bags before the flight took off for Atlanta.
The TSA told the outlet the woman was screened but didn’t provide more information. It’s still unknown how the woman managed to get on the plane without a boarding pass or ID.
Passenger Mandy Chan who was on the plane tweeted: “After we all got off the plane, lots of security came over. An hour flight to a connected flight to Atlanta turned into a 7 hour wait and rearrangement.”
Another passenger added: “When the pilot casually goes ‘there’s an unauthorised passenger on the plane so we gotta go back to the gate’…. yes @delta, that’s very good for my anxiety thank u.”
Delta said in a statement: “Delta apologises to customers of flight 1516 for the delay after a person not ticketed for that flight was removed from the aircraft.
“Security officials then directed precautionary re-screen of everyone on board. Delta is working with local law enforcement and the Transportation Security Administration on their investigation and we are conducting our own review of this as well.”
According to Travel Pulse the woman was not arrested, and was put on a shuttle to exit airport security.
A man in Singapore was arrested after he bought a boarding pass to say goodbye to his wife but did not board a plane.
Sun Online Travel has contacted Delta for additional comment.
This article was originally published by Fox News and has been reproduced with permission.
