Delta Flight Delayed Just Before Takeoff After Stowaway Was Found

Given the rigorous security screenings we go through at the airport, it seems impossible that an unticketed traveler could slip through both a TSA checkpoint and boarding line to gain access onto a plane. But that's exactly what happened on a Christmas Eve flight, and caused a holiday travel headache for the dozens of passengers on board.

According to ABC News, the incident occurred on a Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle to Honolulu on Dec. 24. The plane had been taxiing for departure when the crew learned of the apparent stowaway, who has not been identified, causing the aircraft to return to the gate. The carrier had to then delay the flight for more than two hours while TSA conducted additional security checks and rescreened all of the passengers.

After the plane returned to the gate, the stowaway exited and made their way to a terminal restroom, where they were detained by Port of Seattle Police who used video surveillance to track their location. The individual was then arrested for trespassing and booked into South Correctional Entity jail.

"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 said in a statement.

Airport officials found that the stowaway had bypassed a TSA checkpoint the evening before the flight without a boarding pass, but had otherwise been properly screened. TSA also said that the person had gone through a standard screening and "did not possess any prohibited items" but had managed to bypass identity verification and boarding status stations.

The federal agency said it "takes any incidents that occur at any of our checkpoints nationwide seriously" and that it will "independently review the circumstances of this incident at our travel document checker station at Seattle/Tacoma International."

Coincidentally enough, this is the second incident within a month that an unticketed passenger has managed to breach a Delta flight. On Nov. 26, a Russian national was caught traveling without proper documentation on a flight that had been scheduled to fly from New York City to Paris on Nov. 26. In that instance, the flight had already departed but the passenger was prohibited from entering French territory and re-routed back to the United States, where she held a valid residence permit.