A 13-year-old boy managed to bypass security systems at Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday morning, confirmed by the Israel Airports Authority. The boy was discovered by El Al flight attendants before takeoff.
According to initial reports, the boy got around security and managed to board an El Al flight bound for New York without a passport or boarding pass.
The young teen arrived at the airport at night and snuck through security without documentation by clinging to another person, according to airport officials. He allegedly stayed put in a duty-free shop and got on the plane itself.
According to Maariv, the boy, who is the son of divorced parents, tried to escape to his father, who lives in New York, and bypassed security by clinging to other passengers, evading security’s many layers.
The oversight was discovered by El Al flight attendants ahead of takeoff at around midnight, when a boy refused to show his ticket and passport, eventually leading attendants to check passenger lists, finding he was not on it. The teen was removed from the flight and taken for police questioning. The event was seen as an oversight by the Airports Authority, with the teen not under arrest at any point.
'Could have ended completely differently'
The Airports Authority’s investigation indicated that the child tried to reach his father in the US illegally, somehow bypassing intense security procedures. It emphasized that immediate steps are being taken to prevent such incidents from recurring. Among other things, the possibility of increasing human supervision at the checkpoints is being examined.
The senior official concluded, “It could have ended completely differently. This time it was a child who wanted to reach his father; another time it could be someone with completely different intentions. The entire system needs to draw conclusions and correct itself quickly.”
The boy is still in custody for security officials to better understand his intentions.
Dr. Itay Gal contributed to this report.