Police: Man Got On Plane Without Ticket

[Blue_Tires]

Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK -- The Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday it is trying to determine how a man slipped past authorities and boarded a flight with a stolen boarding pass at New York's Kennedy airport.

Ronald Wong, 30, of Chevy Chase, Md., was charged with trespassing after a flight attendant noticed him standing at the rear of a Delta airliner preparing to leave for San Francisco on Feb. 24.

Wong told police he took another passenger's boarding pass at the JFK ticket counter, according to a police report filed in a New York City court.

TSA agents are supposed to check boarding passes against passengers' IDs. Airline gate agents then double-check the passes as passengers board.

TSA said its agents screened Wong's baggage at the security checkpoint, but he somehow slipped past the ID-checking station.

A seat on the New York-San Francisco flight, Delta 127, normally costs $541, according to court documents. It was unclear if the stolen boarding pass was for that flight or another one.

Read more: http://www.clickondetroit.com/travelgetaways/27140575/detail.html

[ReggieVeggie]

1. HAHAHA! WELL! I'm glad we spent all that time and effort on security

how many more billions of dollars wasted becasue of the inside job on 9/11? Sure as hell meant money for some people!

[damntexdem]

2. Gonna have to touch more junk.

Yeah, and liquids will have to be in even-smaller containers.

Have to do everything to prevent boarding-pass theft.

;-)

[grilled onions]

3. Shades Of Airplane

Remember the little old lady who traveled that way? Who can afford a plane ticket on Social Security she said....

[jmowreader]

8. Airport, not Airplane

I was thinking that, though: the woman who flew everywhere for free just because she could.

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. Obviously something is Wong here.

:banghead:

[ReggieVeggie]

7. ok, that was bad

still got a chuckle ;-)

[grilled onions]

12. OOOOPPPPPS You Are Right

Lack of sleep on my part caused this error! Thanks for correcting it! :crazy:

[Sonoman]

5. GF and I switched IDs at JFK, just for the hell of it.

We made it thru every checkpoint.

She is 5'5" with very short red hair, I am 6'1" with brown/grey hair that reaches mid-back and I have a beard.

TSA is worthless.

Sonoman

[truthisfreedom]

6. Pretty amazing he made it that far.

Freaky story.

[forty6]

9. From these posts above, looks like JFK is a weak link...those checking ID's....

seem to be a bit lame.

Maybe it's a wage and management problem there....we need to get to the bottom of this.

I travel once or twice a year, from a smaller airport to a smaller airport. They have to look at my ID, and make a real check mark on the boarding pass for me to get on the plane..

They do it for every person on every flight from those 2 airports.

I feel safe.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

10. You "FEEL" safe but you are not. I read this on a TSA-factoid webpage once:

There are 3 points of security to verify that a person is authorized to board a plane - but only one (the least secure) actually verifies your identity.

1) Ticket Counter: When checking in for the flight, the ticket agent receives your ID and physically scans it (ensuring it is real) and makes sure you are the person on the ID. You may or may not receive a boarding pass from the agent as many airlines allow the passenger to print off all of the boarding pass & paperwork with online flight booking. You can check in for a flight up to 24 hours before the departure.

2) TSA Security Checkpoint: A security agent inspects your boarding pass and ID to make sure that the ticket is matched to the ID holder and the ID picture belongs to the person. Agents here are also trained to spot fake IDs - usually by means of UV inspection light. The IDs themselves are only inspected but not "scanned". There is no active list or updated registry of what passengers are supposed to be checked into which flights. ID name matches ticket = good to go.

3) Boarding Plane: An agent receives your ticket and scans it a bar code to verify the ticket is authentic and add you to the flight registry (who actually made it onto the plane).

But here's the big flaw in this screening process. AT NO POINT AFTER THE TICKET COUNTER IS THE TICKETHOLDER'S ID TRULY LINKED TO THE BOARDING PASS. As long as a real ID is used when checking in at the gate, a boarding pass with that name on it will be valid. After checking in for the flight, the REAL boarding pass can be given to WHOMEVER. The new person either needs a good fake ID (with the boarding pass name on it) that can pass a UV inspection or a secondary fake boarding pass with a photoshopped name... after all, it's usually just paper with ink printed on it. Make the the ID match the ticket or make the ticket match your real ID, whichever method used the ticket name will match the ID and the Security Checkpoint gives them clearance. Now the Agent at the gate scans the REAL boarding pass given to them and everything checks out. You get on the plane. The ID is typically not checked at the gate and only tickets are collected/scanned. Additionally, with ONLY a fake ticket (there is no "real" boarding pass)... one can get into the "secure" part of the terminal but not be able to board the plane. Essentially, you can get to the gate without EVER purchasing a ticket, checking into a flight, or them knowing you're there.

ANYONE listed on ANY security watchlists can fly ANYWHERE in America doing this.
Now do you feel safe? Airline security is a joke. Determined individuals will always find ways to exploit the system.

[FLPanhandle]

11. With online printing of boarding passes, he didn't even have to steal one.

Just make your own and print it. True, it won't scan properly at the gate to get on a flight, but slipping behind a gate agent wouldn't be hard.

Then it's just the trick of finding an open seat.

[On the Road]

13. Man, I Thought I Was Lucky for Boarding a Plane with a Nickname

on the ticket that didn't match my passport. They turned me away at the ticket counter at first, but my girlfriend went back and got me a ticket on the automated machines. Was even questioned a few times at ID check. They always accepted that Jack = John, but it was touch and go for awhile. The plane was to China and it would have been a very bad flight to take the loss on.