How did 11-year-old fly with no ticket, boarding pass?
Many kids manage to slip away from their parents in
shopping centers during summer vacations, but an 11-year-old boy from
Manchester, England, got farther away than most this week.
He went to Manchester Airport, snuck past passport
control and boarding pass checks, went though a metal detector and was on a
plane halfway to Rome before anyone realized there was anything unusual going
on, an airport spokesman said Wednesday.
The boy was reported missing on Tuesday at 12:40 p.m.
after his mother lost track of him at a shopping center in Wythenshawe, police
said.
His plane took off an hour and 20 minutes later from
Manchester Airport, about two miles from the shopping center.
"He had run off from his mum," said airport
spokesman John Greenway.
"He got himself to the airport. It looks like he
evaded some passport checks and some boarding pass checks and ended up in
Rome," Greenway said.
He was noticed while the flight was in the air and sent
back home when the plane returned to England, Greenway said.
"Flight crew and the Italian authorities made sure
he stayed on the plane. He left here yesterday at 2 p.m. and got home about 9
p.m.," Greenway said.
Airport staff members have been suspended and an
investigation is under way, he said.
The airport insists that the incident was not a security
breach.
"The boy went through full security screening so the
safety of passengers and the aircraft was never compromised," the airport
said in a statement.
Greater Manchester Police said no crime had been
committed.
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