Boy, 11, slips through airport security, nearly boards plane without ticket

Credit: WSBTV.com

Credit: WSBTV.com

The Transportation Security Administration has confirmed that an 11-year-old boy got through a security checkpoint at Atlanta's airport without having a boarding pass or ticket.

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The child went through the main security checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and was screened, according to WSB-TV.

Officials said the boy then tried to board a flight by blending in with a family. The boy was caught when the family said he wasn't with them.

“How is that even possible?” traveler Empress Love said. “He should have never been able to get past the security. From right there they should have stopped him.

The incident happened Friday afternoon. TSA representative Sari Koshetz said the child didn't have to show identification at the security checkpoint because he is a minor.

Koshetz had no comment when asked about the fact the boy didn't have a boarding pass. She said after he was screened an officer asked the boy where his parents were. That's when the child got away.

“It's hard to understand how something like that could happen,” one woman, who asked not to be identified, said.

The boy got to a gate where he tried to blend in with a family and board a plane. When the family said they didn't know him, he took off before officers eventually found him.

The boy's mother refused to comment about the incident. When WSB told her they were to figure out how this happened she responded.

“OK, well you should be at the airport asking them how that happened,” the boy’s mother said.

The TSA isn't saying much about the incident.

“I can't understand how he would have gotten past the security piece because you have to show them your ticket and your ID,” a traveler said.

The TSA said the incident wasn't a breach of security since agents screened the child.

The child is back home with his mother. WSB reported he took a bus to the airport and indicated he just wanted to get away.

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