All passengers aboard Delta Flight 1516 to Atlanta had to deboard after a woman boarded the flight without a boarding pass or identification at the Orlando International Airport.
According to a passenger on the flight, it was discovered the woman was without a plane ticket after she refused to get out of a passengers’ seat. A supervisor and a pilot tried unsuccessfully to get the woman out of the 15th-row seat assigned to another passenger.
The woman was unable to produce a boarding pass, claiming she threw her ticket away.
“Who knows where I threw it out? I just threw it out as soon as I got on the plane, I’m not moving,’’ She said very bluntly
She tried showing a photo of herself on her cellphone when asked for identification. The pilot called cops when the woman insisted that the photo could serve as her government-issued ID.
The woman was dragged off the plane while cursing out the flight crew. Orlando police officers escorted her out of the airport, where she caught a shuttle.
The incident caused a 3 hour delay. Delta apologized for the incident, and the subsequent delay it caused.
“Delta apologizes to customers of flight 1516 for the delay after a person not ticketed for that flight was removed from the aircraft. Security officials then directed a precautionary rescreen of everyone onboard. Delta is working with local law enforcement and the Transportation Security Administration on their investigation and we are conducting our own review of this as well. Safety and security is always our top priority,” the airline said.
All passengers had to deboard following the incident. TSA(Transportation Security Administration) agents and canines then cleared the aircraft after an extensive search, including all luggage on the flight.
FBI Tampa field office was notified of the incident and is working with our partners Orlando Police and Transportation Security Administration,” the agency wrote in a statement.
However, they declined to release any further information citing the investigation active.
The woman has not yet been identified and its unclear if charges are being brought against the woman. The flight was supposed to take off at 10:20 a.m. but did not leave until 1:10 p.m. It arrived in Atlanta around 2:45 p.m.
