A passenger sneaks onto a Delta flight to Hawaii without a ticket

Unrestricted Airline passenger A Seattle company managed to bypass security and airline officials before boarding a Honolulu-bound flight earlier this week, only to be arrested as the plane exited, according to Delta Air Lines and the Transportation and Security Administration (TSA).

The fare evader, who has not been identified, boarded Delta Flight 487 at Seattle/Tacoma International Airport (SEA) on December 24, which was headed to Hawaii’s capital just before Christmas.

But before the Airbus A321neo could take off, the independent loader was spotted and removed from the aircraft. The accident caused the flight to take off approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes late.

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“TSA can confirm that the individual underwent standard screening and did not have any prohibited items,” a TSA statement provided to Fox Business read. “This individual bypassed identity verification and boarding status stations and boarded a plane at Seattle/Tacoma International Airport (SEA) without a boarding pass.”

It is not clear how the passenger without a ticket was able to evade the checkpoints and board the plane.

“TSA takes any incidents that occur at any of our checkpoints across the country very seriously. TSA will independently review the circumstances of this incident at our travel document screening station at Seattle/Tacoma International,” the TSA statement continues. .

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The agency says it opens a civil case against any passenger when there is evidence of this TSA regulations It may have been violated.

Meanwhile, Delta Airlines The company says that person was arrested by law enforcement when the plane returned to the gate and TSA conducted additional security checks, including rescreening customers.

“Because nothing is more important than safety and security, Delta employees followed procedures for removing a non-ticketed passenger from the flight and then arresting him,” a Delta spokesperson said. “We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel and thank them for their patience and cooperation.”

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The airline says the investigation is ongoing, but initial indications are that the ticketless passenger boarded the plane at the gate without presenting a boarding pass. The Airbus A321neo typically seats about 180 to 220 passengers, according to Airbus.

This incident comes just weeks after someone sneaked onto a Delta Air Lines flight departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City and was not noticed until the plane was about to land. In Paris.

She was arrested after a flight attendant concluded that she had been staying in the plane’s bathrooms ever since Unusually long periods of time.

Fox News’ Luis Casiano contributed to this report.