A 33-year-old woman known as the “Delta stowaway” has been arrested at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after attempting to board multiple flights without a ticket on Christmas Eve. Shemaiah Patrice Small claimed she had taken a train from California to visit her boyfriend, but was told by airline staff she was on the wrong flight.
According to court documents, Small initially bypassed security checkpoints and made it past several layers of screening before being noticed by law enforcement officials. She walked through airport terminals without shoes, carrying a bottle of alcohol, and got in line for at least two flights before finally boarding one.
Small was charged with first-degree criminal trespass and making a false statement to a public servant after a Delta employee became suspicious of her claim. The Transportation Security Administration has since added new security measures to the airport, including double-line stanchions and acrylic barriers, in an effort to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The woman’s arrest came after she was spotted by a passenger on one of the flights she attempted to board, who alerted authorities to her presence on the plane. Small claimed she did not have a ticket or identification, but airline staff eventually discovered that she had provided false information. The incident has raised questions about airport security and the measures in place to prevent stowaways from boarding flights undetected.
Source: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/how-a-stowaway-boarded-a-honolulu-delta-flight-at-sea-tac-airport