Ticketless Delta Air Lines passenger who boarded flight in Seattle tried again 3 days later

For some people, the urge to hop on a flight without purchasing the ticket, for whatever thrill they are after, is so strong that even the prospect of getting arrested is not a deterrent.

A few days ago, it was reported that an individual was arrested for attempting to fly on a Delta plane from Seattle to Hawaii without a ticket. However, she was back at the airport again a few days later to give it another try.

A 33-year-old woman was arrested at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (SEA) for trespassing – her second such attempt within days.

Thankfully, this time, she couldn’t gain access to an aircraft and was apprehended before she could clear airport security screening.

Thanks to a hawk-eyed officer, she was recognized from surveillance footage. When she was confronted and asked about her reason for being at the airport, she couldn’t provide a convincing answer.

According to Seattle’s local news source King 5, the woman said that she was at the airport to receive her sister. However, she did not possess a ticket or have any information about the flight on which her sister was arriving.

When she was shown the surveillance footage from Christmas Eve when she was apprehended for attempting to fly on a plane without a ticket, she said,

Simple Flying contacted Seattle Airport for a statement and received the following response from the airport’s Media Relations Manager, Perry Cooper:

“Ms. Small was arrested the night of the 27th for trespassing. She was arrested pre-security and had not passed through any of the checkpoints.”

According to King 5, the woman was arrested for first-degree criminal trespassing, an offense that has a maximum penalty of up to 364 days or $5,000 in fines or both.

The first attempt took place on Christmas Eve on Delta Flight 487 between Seattle and Honolulu.

According to reports, the Airbus A321 had started taxiing out when cabin crew members discovered that one of the passengers on the plane did not possess a ticket for the journey.

King 5 had access to court documents that revealed the woman cut in front of the line at an airport checkpoint and somehow managed to trick authorities by avoiding being screened for her ID and boarding pass.

It was also revealed that once she cleared airport security, she attempted to board at least two flights before settling down for the Delta flight to Hawaii. Delta released a statement that said,

“As there are no matters more important than safety and security, Delta people followed procedures to have an unticketed passenger removed from the flight and then apprehended. We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travels and thank them for their patience and cooperation.”

One would think that getting caught once would deter people from attempting something similar again, but clearly, that’s not the case with some individuals. The woman involved in the Seattle airport incident is not alone.

In November, a 57-year-old woman boarded a Delta Air Lines flight out of New York JFK Airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle without a ticket.

In an alarming breach of security, she managed to cross all crucial checkpoints at the airport where documents such as boarding pass and visa are verified, passed the TSA security checkpoint, and boarded the aircraft.

The woman is a Russian citizen but a resident of the United States. She seemingly took advantage of the traffic rush at JFK due to the Thanksgiving holiday travel when airport officials were overwhelmed by an increased workload.

However, she was taken into custody again when she was trying to cross the border to get into Canada. She did not take a flight for her second attempt but instead boarded a Greyhound bus that was bound for Canada, according to a report by CNN.