A serious breach in airport security occurred at one of Europe’s busiest airports recently, as an individual was able to make his way through airport security and onto an aircraft without holding a boarding pass or passport. The male was able to sneak his way onto a 
British Airways flight bound for Norway’s capital, Oslo.
Currently unnamed by UK news outlet, The Telegraph, the man was able to walk his way onto a 7:20 am scheduled flight for 
Oslo Gardermoen Airport, by tailgating other passengers through airport security screening, and even able to inconspicuously get onto the Airbus A320 aircraft operated by the British flag carrier.
One-Way To Oslo
Without holding a boarding pass, the individual should have not been able to make his way through the current strict airport security protocols which require all departing passengers that are passing through airport security to hold a valid boarding pass. Aviation experts have classed this incident as a ‘serious lapse in security’.
After making his way onto the British Airways flight, suspicion began to rise as the individual was found on multiple occasions in other passengers’ seats. This resulted in the cabin crew detecting the interloper and approaching him to validate his boarding pass. Simple Flying reached out to British Airways for comment on the incident, and their spokesperson responded with the following statement:
“We’re working with Heathrow Airport and relevant teams who are investigating this thoroughly. At no point was the safety of customers, crew, or the aircraft compromised. We apologised to customers for the delay and the aircraft departed as planned.”
The Man Was Arrested
Fortunately, being busted before the flight was able to take off, the individual was arrested by the police, and other passengers have reported him being a male in his late twenties or early thirties, scruffy, wearing an off-white tracksuit, and carrying a small rucksack. It remains unclear what his plan would have been had the flight been able to take off, or how he could have made his way through immigration screening on arrival in Norway.
A passenger on the flight, which witnessed the full event in front of his own eyes, noted that the individual continued to move around the plane from seat to seat until it filled up, and once the flight attendant noticed what was going on, he was approached and was identified as not holding a boarding pass for the flight. British Airways operates multiple daily flights between London Heathrow and Oslo, with the flight affected detailed below:
|
Flight Number |
BA768 |
|---|---|
|
From |
London Heathrow Airport (LHR) |
|
To |
Oslo Gardermoen Airport (OSL) |
|
Departure Time |
7:20 am |
|
Arrival Time |
10:30 am |
|
Aircraft |
Airbus A320 |
It appears as though the individual had tailgated his way through Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 3 security screening, bypassing the need to scan a valid boarding pass to get through the automatic gates. Once at the gate, the individual posed as a family member with another group of travelers, as boarding passes and passports were verified before clearing the gate.
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The offender boarded the aircraft without TSA clearance, triggering a major security breach.
Removed By Police
Once he was detected, airport security and local police arrived on the flight and removed the passenger. Cabin crew assisted the authorities with reviewing where the individual had been sitting, and double-checked that no remaining belongings had been left on the aircraft in the overhead lockers. Sniffer dogs were also brought on board to search the airplane to check that no other concealed substances were stowed.
This eventually resulted in all passengers being disembarked from the Oslo-bound flight, and required to be rescreened through airport security, and then the flight was re-boarded, with all travelers having their passports and boarding passes double-checked. This delayed the flight for approximately three hours.
While it remains extremely rare that individuals can sneak onto an commerical flight undetected, when it does happen, they are usually isolated incidents, due to the usual multiple layers of checks required to ensure that all passengers are fit to fly. Airlines are responsible for ensuring that all passengers are permitted to be onboard a flight, with the correct documentation.
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