Plane almost takes off with traveler accused of skipping security in PA, feds say
.jpg "A Pennsylvania man was sentenced after officials say he walked past TSA and boarded a plane illegally.")
A Pennsylvania man was sentenced after officials said he walked past Transportation Security Administration and illegally boarded a plane.
Around 12:15 a.m. June 26, 2024, a man walked up to a security guard working the Terminal C exit lane at Philadelphia International Airport. The man told the guard that he forgot his phone in the “sterile area,” beyond the TSA checkpoint, according to a July 1 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The guard called police dispatch but they said they could not look for his phone. When the guard told the man this, he started to walk past her, officials said.
The guard repeatedly told the man he could not enter the airport so he “dropped a $50 bill” onto her desk and asked if that would get him in, according to prosecutors.
The guard told him again he could not enter but the man walked around her and entered the sterile area, officials said. The guard notified police there was a security breach and officers began searching terminals, prosecutors said.
Security discovered the man had boarded an American Airlines plane and it was preparing for departure, according to officials. The captain was notified there was an unsecured passenger on the plane and it returned to the gate, prosecutors said.
All passengers on the plane were removed and the man was arrested, according to officials. The plane had to be searched and the flight was canceled, which cost the airline roughly $60,000, prosecutors said.
American Airlines did not wish to comment on the case.
The man pleaded guilty to one count of evading airport security. He was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay $59,143 in restitution.
