US teenage trio's airline trip sparks concern over security
Source: Agencies |
August 15, 2010, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BORED on a hot summer day, three Florida youngsters were just sitting around when one sent a text message to another with an adventurous idea.
"Hey do you want to go 2 Tennessee today," the message read. "Sure," the other responded.
Not even old enough to get a driver's license, they took a taxi to the airport last Tuesday, bought tickets with baby-sitting money and - unbeknownst to their parents, the three (ages 15, 13 and 11) - boarded a Southwest Airlines flight from Jacksonville, Florida, to Nashville, Tennessee, according to a TV news account of the incident.
Nobody asked a question. Nobody asked for identification.
Not the taxi driver. Not the ticket counter. Not security officials or flight attendants or other passengers. So when they landed in Nashville with just US$40 left and their destination, Dollywood, still hundreds of miles away, they finally called home.
The jig was up.
"I just wanted to fly," 15-year-old Bridget Brown, told WJXX-TV in Jacksonville. "I had the money."
Now their parents are wondering how the trip was possible.
Southwest Airlines said in a statement that the company's policy on minors is similar to other carriers in that it covers children ages 5 through 11 traveling alone, and that the 11-year-old in this case was accompanied by two older companions. The Transportation Security Administration doesn't require anyone under 18 to show identification, but all bags are still screened.
In an age of heightened security and terrorism threats, some are concerned that three youngsters could so easily board an airline without parental consent.
Richard Bloom, an aviation security expert at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said while this incident amounted to a childhood jaunt, it highlights legitimate safety implications.
"The moral of the story is, at least in other parts of the world, young people are engaged in weapons, planting bombs, testing security," he said. "The point is terrorist groups, insurgent groups, they read the papers, they watch TV, they look at the security lapses. And they take that information as they develop their own terrorist operations."
The trio certainly had no problem hopping a flight.
Brown, with the US$700 she had saved, took her 11-year-old brother Kodie and 13-year-old friend Bobby Nolan III to the airport in the early afternoon. She said she purchased the three tickets at the Southwest Airlines counter without any problems from the clerk.
They arrived in Nashville and, realizing their plan was flawed, finally "fessed up."
Nashville airport spokeswoman Emily Richard said the children never left the airport property and were immediately rebooked on return flights that night.
Southwest said it had refunded their airfare.
"Hey do you want to go 2 Tennessee today," the message read. "Sure," the other responded.
Not even old enough to get a driver's license, they took a taxi to the airport last Tuesday, bought tickets with baby-sitting money and - unbeknownst to their parents, the three (ages 15, 13 and 11) - boarded a Southwest Airlines flight from Jacksonville, Florida, to Nashville, Tennessee, according to a TV news account of the incident.
Nobody asked a question. Nobody asked for identification.
Not the taxi driver. Not the ticket counter. Not security officials or flight attendants or other passengers. So when they landed in Nashville with just US$40 left and their destination, Dollywood, still hundreds of miles away, they finally called home.
The jig was up.
"I just wanted to fly," 15-year-old Bridget Brown, told WJXX-TV in Jacksonville. "I had the money."
Now their parents are wondering how the trip was possible.
Southwest Airlines said in a statement that the company's policy on minors is similar to other carriers in that it covers children ages 5 through 11 traveling alone, and that the 11-year-old in this case was accompanied by two older companions. The Transportation Security Administration doesn't require anyone under 18 to show identification, but all bags are still screened.
In an age of heightened security and terrorism threats, some are concerned that three youngsters could so easily board an airline without parental consent.
Richard Bloom, an aviation security expert at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said while this incident amounted to a childhood jaunt, it highlights legitimate safety implications.
"The moral of the story is, at least in other parts of the world, young people are engaged in weapons, planting bombs, testing security," he said. "The point is terrorist groups, insurgent groups, they read the papers, they watch TV, they look at the security lapses. And they take that information as they develop their own terrorist operations."
The trio certainly had no problem hopping a flight.
Brown, with the US$700 she had saved, took her 11-year-old brother Kodie and 13-year-old friend Bobby Nolan III to the airport in the early afternoon. She said she purchased the three tickets at the Southwest Airlines counter without any problems from the clerk.
They arrived in Nashville and, realizing their plan was flawed, finally "fessed up."
Nashville airport spokeswoman Emily Richard said the children never left the airport property and were immediately rebooked on return flights that night.
Southwest said it had refunded their airfare.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
