Woman boards flight without a ticket

Passenger arrested for criminal trespass

Chicago O'Hare International Airport (EPA)

A woman managed to board a flight in the US without a ticket.

Yaazmina Payton, 23, allegedly got on a plane at Chicago O’Hare Airport on 8 November, despite not having a boarding pass.

She has since been charged by Chicago police with a felony count of criminal trespass at an airport and a misdemeanour count of criminal trespass to a vehicle, reports the Chicago Sun Times.

It is not clear which airline was involved, but Ms Payton got on a plane at Terminal 3, according to police.

She was removed from the aircraft before take off and was arrested without incident.

“The safety and security of all travellers are our top priority,” a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spokesperson told Fox News.  

“We are investigating this incident and cases of this nature can take up to 90 days.”

It remains unclear how Ms Payton managed to bypass security without a valid boarding pass.

It’s not the first time a passenger has managed to get on a flight without proper documentation.

In 2019, a 13-year-old boy prompted a police investigation after he managed to board a flight at Heathrow airport without a ticket.

The unaccompanied minor was discovered on board a British Airways flight to Los Angeles on 14 July after cabin crew asked to see his boarding pass.

When it became clear that he did not have the correct travel documentation, the entire flight was de-planed and passengers had to go through security again.

Police believed the boy arrived at Heathrow as a transit passenger.

A British Airways spokesperson said: “We have apologised to our customers for the delay to their flight after an issue during boarding.

“The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority and everyone who had boarded the aircraft had been subject to security checks.

“We conducted additional precautionary screening as soon as this issue came to light and we are assisting the police with their enquiries.”