A unticketed passenger was apprehended on December 24 aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle to Honolulu. This incident occurred as Delta Flight 487 was taxiing on the runway, prompting the crew to return to the gate upon discovering the stowaway.

According to airline officials, the individual was discovered just before takeoff. Delta's spokesperson stated, "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," highlighting the airline's protocol in such situations (ABC News). The passengers onboard experienced a delay of over two hours while the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) conducted additional security checks, including rescreening all travelers.

The Port of Seattle Police confirmed that the stowaway had gained unauthorized access to the aircraft after passing through TSA security the previous evening without a boarding pass. Despite undergoing standard screening and not possessing any prohibited items, the individual bypassed the necessary identity verification and boarding procedures (USA Today).

Once the flight returned to the gate, authorities located the stowaway — who had exited the aircraft — in a restroom within the terminal with the help of surveillance footage. The passenger was subsequently arrested for criminal trespass and taken into custody at a local jail.

This incident comes on the heels of a similar occurrence in November, where another Delta Air Lines stowaway, identified as Svetlana Dali, was caught attempting to board a flight from New York to Paris without a ticket. Dali managed to infiltrate the airport security system by using a designated lane for airline employees and was apprehended shortly after the flight took off. She was later arrested again on December 16 in Buffalo while trying to flee to Canada after cutting off her ankle monitor (ABC News, USA Today).

The TSA has announced it will investigate how the latest stowaway was able to evade the required checks and boarded the aircraft without showing a boarding pass. Issues surrounding airport security have been raised in light of these incidents, with TSA reinforcing its commitment to thorough evaluations at checkpoints nationwide.

For more details, refer to the original reports from ABC News and USA Today.