A Delta Airlines flight from New York City’s JFK International Airport landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris with a stowaway on board, the airline confirmed to the US on Thursday.
The incident occurred Tuesday on Delta Flight 264 from New York to Paris, one of the three busiest travel days during Thanksgiving week, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The agency said in a news release last week that it expected to screen 18.3 million people during the “busiest Thanksgiving travel period ever.”
The person, who has not been identified, was “physically screened without any prohibited items,” “bypassed two identity verification and boarding status stations and boarded the aircraft” despite not having a boarding pass, TSA spokesman David Fitz told USA TODAY on Thursday .
Fitz said an investigation is underway. According to a report from ABC News, the stowaway was discovered in flight and removed after the plane landed in Paris.
It remains unclear how the person managed to bypass security and board the plane. TSA and Delta declined to provide further details. It is also unknown where the person was on the plane and whether he was arrested by the police.
“TSA takes all incidents that occur at any of our checkpoints across the country seriously,” the agency said in a statement. “TSA will independently review the circumstances of this incident at our travel document checkpoint at JFK.”
Stowaway hid in toilet, passenger says
Rob Jackson, a New York real estate agent who was one of the passengers on the flight, wrote in an Instagram story: “Soooo… we landed in Paris and the crew told us to stay put while crossing the French border. police enter the plane.”
“We somehow flew all the way from New York to Paris with a stowaway,” Jackson wrote. “This woman somehow got on the plane and hid in a toilet during takeoff and wasn’t noticed until we were about to land.”
Jackson also shared a video of the captain announcing that police were coming on board to “take care of the extra passenger on the plane.”
“Folks, this is the captain, we’re just waiting for the police to come on board,” the pilot says in the video. “They may be here now and they have instructed us to keep everyone on the plane until we sort out the extra passenger that is on the plane.”
Delta Airlines said in a statement that the company is “conducting a comprehensive investigation” into the incident.
“Nothing is more important than things like safety and security,” the airline said. “As a result, Delta is conducting a comprehensive investigation into what may have occurred and will work with other aviation stakeholders and law enforcement to do so.”
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Delta Airlines, TSA investigate stowaway on NYC-Paris flight
