A woman was arrested for the second time in a week at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, days after allegedly boarding a Delta Air Lines flight without a ticket.
The Port of Seattle Police Department (POSPD) was dispatched on Friday to help the Transportation Security Administration with a person “considered not to have official airport business,” an airport spokesperson told USA TODAY in an emailed statement.
“TSA attempted to make first contact with the individual near Checkpoint 3 and called in POSPD for support,” the statement said. Police determined she did not have airport business and arrested her for trespassing.
“The individual did not pass through any of the checkpoints,” the statement continued. The airport spokesperson did not identify the woman.
The woman reportedly told police she was picking her sister up but “did not have a ticket and could not list a real airline for the flight her sister was on,” according to local outlet KING 5. The incident came days after she allegedly boarded a Delta Air Lines flight to Honolulu, Hawaii, without a boarding pass on Dec. 24.
An airline spokesperson confirmed that while the plane was taxiing, an unticketed passenger was discovered, and the aircraft returned to the gate. The flyer was removed, and TSA rescreened customers, among other safety checks.
A Delta Air Lines jet under cloudy skies at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on June 27, 2024.
The incident resulted in a 2-hour-and-15-minute delay.
“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,” the airline told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. “We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travels and thank them for their patience and cooperation.” An investigation is ongoing.
The woman was arrested in that instance for trespassing and making false statements, the airport spokesperson said.
A TSA spokesperson added that the passenger “bypassed the identity verification and boarding status stations” but went through standard screening and had no prohibited items.
“TSA takes any incidents that occur at any of our checkpoints nationwide seriously,” they told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. “TSA will independently review the circumstances of this incident at our travel document checker station at Seattle/Tacoma International.”
The incident is not the only one of its kind in recent months. A Delta flight from New York City to Paris landed with a stowaway in November.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Woman who allegedly snuck onto Delta flight arrested again at airport
