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Boy Boards Plane To Vegas At MSP Without Ticket

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Photo Credit: CBSA 9-year-old Minneapolis boy was able to get through security and onto a plane at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport without a ticket, an airport spokesman said Sunday.

Security officials screened the boy at airport shortly after 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman Patrick Hogan said. The boy then boarded Delta Flight 1651, which left for Las Vegas at 11:15 a.m.

The flight was not full, Hogan said, and the flight crew became suspicious mid-flight because the boy was not on their list of unattended minors. The crew contacted Las Vegas police, who met them upon landing and transferred the boy to child protection services, Hogan said.

Minneapolis Police went to his residence. Parents told officers they “hadn’t seen much of him today.”

WCCO contacted the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) Sunday morning, during which a spokesperson said staffing is currently low due to the number of employees furloughed in the wake of the federal government shutdown.

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TSA Agents ‘Humiliated’ Marine Who Lost Both Legs To An IED

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Photo Credit: Jim Urquhart

Transportation Security Administration officers “humiliated” a Marine who lost both legs to an Improvised Explosive Device by requiring the wheelchair-bound Marine to stand and walk. They also had him remove both his prosthetic legs, according to a letter from Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-California).

In his complaint to TSA Administrator John Pistole, Hunter described the Marine as being “humiliated” by the TSA’s actions, based on accounts of the incident last week in Phoenix, Arizona.

“The individual escorting this Marine asked the TSA officer which of the two checkpoints to enter and received the response, ‘either one,’ only to be told moments later they should have entered a different way. As a result, a TSA officer asked the Marine to stand and walk to an alternate area, despite the fact that he physically could not stand or walk on his own,” Hunter explained in his letter.

“With numerous TSA officers sitting and unwilling to assist, an officer then made him remove his legs, then put them back on,” Hunter continued, “only to advance to a secondary screening location where he was asked again to stand, with extraordinary difficulty, while his wheelchair was examined for explosives.”

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Toddler In Wheelchair Heading To Disney Cries During Run-In With TSA Agents (+video)

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Photo Credit: GMAA family’s run-in with Transportation Security Administration screeners at Missouri’s Lambert-St. Louis International Airport as they were heading to Orlando on vacation was caught on camera, and is raising questions about airport security rules.

Annie Schulte said it all started when TSA agents asked to pat down her 3-year-old daughter, Lucy, who is disabled and in a wheelchair. The agents also wanted to screen Lucy’s wheelchair.

Schulte recorded the incident on her cellphone. In the video, Lucy begins to cry and says, “I don’t want to go to Disney World.”

What made the toddler so distraught, her parents said, was the run-in with the agents. Agent: “It’s illegal to do that.” Schulte: “You can’t touch my daughter, unless I can record it.” Schulte said she asked to record the incident.

“To me, it was pretty offensive because I was really tuned in. When she said that, immediately I’m like, ‘OK, hold on, something doesn’t seem right.’ So, I did tell her I was going to wait because I was going to grab my phone,” said Schulte.

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TSA Regrets ‘Accidental’ Breast Exposure of Congressman’s 17-Year-Old Niece During Pat-Down

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The Transportation Security Administration said it regrets the “accidental” breast exposure of a Texas congressman’s 17-year-old niece during a pat-down at Los Angeles International Airport.

The congressman, Republican Rep. Ralph Hall, and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) are calling for a federal investigation into how the incident occurred, Atlanta’s WSB-TV reported Tuesday. The event took place more than two years ago, but only recently came to light through a Freedom of Information Act request.

According to a TSA incident report, Hall’s niece — who has not been publicly identified — was traveling to Australia with her Christian youth group on March 5, 2010 when she was pulled aside for a secondary screening. According to the report, the girl’s “loose-fitting strapless sundress” slipped down to her stomach during the pat-down by a female officer, “revealing her breasts.”

“During the pat-down of the stomach area (slide procedure), minor passenger’s sundress slipped down to her stomach, revealing her breasts,” the report said. The TSA officer “apologized to the minor passenger for the incident and contacted terminal management.”

The incident took place in the middle of the terminal, the report said. The officer did not offer the passenger a private screening and she did not request one. The girl’s chaperones were “visibly upset” and her father filed a complaint the following day, including noting that he had contacted Hall.

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