Man Boards Heathrow Flight Without Passport or Ticket (telegraph.co.uk) 86
Bruce66423 writes: A man boarded a flight at Heathrow without a ticket, boarding pass or passport.
'The unnamed individual walked onto the 7.20am British Airways (BA) flight to Oslo, Norway, on Saturday after tailgating other passengers through security and evading checks at the departure gate.
An aviation expert described the incident as a "significant lapse in security", as a witness reported that cabin crew only detected the interloper because the flight was full and he kept sitting in passengers' assigned seats.
Police arrested the unnamed man, airport sources said, adding that he had passed through "full security screening" before reaching the gate.
Given that he did go through the security check, this is merely embarrassing. Compare and contrast with this episode.
'The unnamed individual walked onto the 7.20am British Airways (BA) flight to Oslo, Norway, on Saturday after tailgating other passengers through security and evading checks at the departure gate.
An aviation expert described the incident as a "significant lapse in security", as a witness reported that cabin crew only detected the interloper because the flight was full and he kept sitting in passengers' assigned seats.
Police arrested the unnamed man, airport sources said, adding that he had passed through "full security screening" before reaching the gate.
Given that he did go through the security check, this is merely embarrassing. Compare and contrast with this episode.
Security Theater (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Security Theater (Score:5, Insightful)
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The theater is important though, people need to at least feel like there's security so they feel safe flying, even if it really is an impossible task if someone want's to smuggle something on board. The El-Al model is effective but it's onerous, expensive and impossible to scale and even it cannot be 100%.
I fly fairly often and the only real security thing I would be concerned about is explosives. After 9/11 the lessons learned was; lock the cockpit doors and if anyone tries to hijack the plane every pass
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. . . After 9/11 the lessons learned was; lock the cockpit doors and if anyone tries to hijack the plane every passenger will flip the fuck out and rush them immediately.
Two points I finds interesting about 911 For the one plane that managed to thwart the hijacker plans
1. They used mobile phones in the air
2. They got the food card together and fashioned some sort of weapons.
I still shake my head today when I get my bag pulled out for a mini Swiss army that only has scissors and nail file.
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As someone who often checks a bag just because I want to take my Leatherman with me to the jobsite I do wish there was some sort of TSA Pre-check-plus that says I can bring it because I'm not gonna try anything but that's really not feasible, it's just not good in general to have weapons on the plane.
But surprisingly though have no problem with me bringing a 30' FatMax tape measure though and I could probably do more damage with that than your scissors and file so it ain't consistent for sure!
Re: Security Theater (Score:3)
I used to play a game where I pretend I am malicious and need to craft a weapon with only what is given to me on the plane.
Easy win. Drink time. A soda can and small plastic cup is poured for me on my tray then they leave.
Bathroom break would excuse myself while casually carrying the soda with me. In the privacy of the restroom dump it out, use your car key to punch a hole in it and twist to fashion that into a sharp blade.
Pocket, have multiple friends all go the restroom with their soda cans. Later all at
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I agree but that's just the thing, after 9/11 no plane full of say, 100+ passengers is gonna let 5-10 dudes with soda can knives take over the plane, not when there's a chance of it careening into a building.
Re: Security Theater (Score:3)
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I think if you really look at airport security; you have to realize it is designed to enable response rather than to really prevent.
Sure of some stuff like limiting liquids is done in hopes of stopping bombs on planes etc; but most of the security enhancements are really of the log and collect variety. I assume the security apparatus believes they can spot and identify the terrorists and organized criminals traveling and go pick them up before they attack whatever non-airport target.
Clearly there is no pra
Re: Security Theater (Score:2)
...and your back cavity.
Re:Security Theater (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: Security Theater (Score:2)
What is there to understand about theater? Its a show. Its not effective, its a joke, its a massive waste of time and money for every single person involved. TSA agents are woefully unqualified and undertrained for proper security.
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Re: Security Theater (Score:1)
That just means the show is working for you. I also have no issues getting through "security", but I also see the complete lack of value beyond making people feel comfortable. All airport security after 9â11 has been nothing more than a waste of money and has been proven time and again to be ineffective. People getting on planes without tickets, this isn't the first time, people getting banned items such as guns and knives past security either intentionally or not happens on pretty much a daily basis.
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When people are paid enough to care, they will. If people are not paid enough to care, they won't. We are currently operating in the "not paid enough to care" area across the entire Western World... so this result is entirely expected and is the norm as various tests have proven. *shrug*
Of course, some folks won't care, even if they are paid, and some folks will care, even if they are not paid, but the general idea still holds true.
Re: Security Theater (Score:2)
Red Team. (Score:2)
Airport security being purely security theater is well-documented fact. TSA Fails 95 Percent of Airport Breach Tests [nbcnews.com]. Except for Israel, it is not any better anywhere else.
Given that he did go through the security check, this is merely embarrassing.
Since embarrassment and awareness seems to have been the end goal, smells an awful lot like a pen test. Nothing more.
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This is an international flight. It is not merely embarrassing. Security didn't inspect ID or boarding pass?
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That article is 10 years old. A lot has changed in airport security since then. The article even says the Head was replaced right after the report came out and a bunch of changes were being ordered at a ton of airports. Maybe it's still 95% or maybe not, but either way, that article is too old to be used for claims in 2025.
The fact that TSA has caught people means it isn't complete theater. If it's worth it or not is a different discussion.
Re: Security Theater (Score:2)
Besides, they only scan for obviously dangerous object, ignoring how much damage you csn cause with everyday objects.
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Airport security being purely security theater is well-documented fact. TSA Fails 95 Percent of Airport Breach Tests [nbcnews.com]. Except for Israel, it is not any better anywhere else.
I see you've never travelled outside the US... it's better almost everywhere else.
The fact this happened means that it's better in the UK. As a frequent traveller out of LHR (London Heathrow international airport) I can see exactly how this happened and also understand it's not common.
First of all, you're conflating the responsibility of the various parties involved. Border Force is not tasked with ensuring the passenger is ticketed, their job is handling the security infrastructure and ensuring passe
Not news for Nerds (Score:1, Interesting)
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Nerds tend to have a higher interest in security than the general populace.
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This guy either socially engineered his way through a line, analyzed a weakness in the line, or time-traveled from the '90's not realizing we've set up an incompetent but totalizing police-state control grid to interpose every tiny aspect of our lives.
To be fair, "pay on board" is less applicable to airplanes than trains because seatbelts are important in turbulence.
That said, the lack of capacity is widely acknowledged to be a feature of wildly incompetent management.
We just heard they've started a new pro
Attributing Risk Mitigation. (Score:5, Interesting)
This guy either socially engineered his way through a line, analyzed a weakness in the line, or time-traveled from the '90's not realizing we've set up an incompetent but totalizing police-state control grid to interpose every tiny aspect of our lives.
Perhaps we not attribute time-traveling ignorance with what could be attributed to a Red Team pen test. He went through security. So creating an actual threat was not the end goal. Embarrassment and awareness was.
Hell, the way he was bouncing around the plane makes me wonder how much money he was winning in the Red Team office pool for every seat he got away with.
Red Team testing, is done at airports. (Source: Retired Director of TSA @ local international airpot)
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I agree. That's what it looks like. But wouldn't that hab been disclosed as soon as he was brought off the plane? Even if it takes an hour to confirm, that should have been before and included in a press release.
So probably an "independant" pen tester.... or failed social media challenge, Or just a plain idiot who got lucky (Well, there may be an overlap here...).
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I agree. That's what it looks like. But wouldn't that hab been disclosed as soon as he was brought off the plane? Even if it takes an hour to confirm, that should have been before and included in a press release.
Included in the press release? Why? Internal Red Team testing is internal.
Take the win for catching the "bad" guy, with bonus clicks-n-likes revenue. Advertise there was no real threat (he went through security) to keep the confidence of overall safety intact with the general public. Water the "alarming" problem down to remedial training and perhaps firing a couple of ticket checkers who had one fucking job to ensure all is well.
Profit, with consumer confidence even slightly boosted just before the ho
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But then you wouldn't publish either that a Red Team has been able to infiltrate your business.
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But then you wouldn't publish either that a Red Team has been able to infiltrate your business.
Depends on the legal necessity. The public ingests the broadcasted story no matter if it was an exercise or real. To them, a bad guy was caught with no real security risk and minor disruption on a single flight.
You would simply publish what is necessary. In this case, there were members of the public present who likely noticed or were directly impacted by the erratic behavior and disturbance. So 100% confidentiality was a known no-go from the start. Some exposure was certainly factored in, and so a pre
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This guy either socially engineered his way through a line, analyzed a weakness in the line, or time-traveled from the '90's not realizing we've set up an incompetent but totalizing police-state control grid to interpose every tiny aspect of our lives.
Erm.. the guy is a kid of 12 or 13... he didn't socially engineer or study anything. He tailgated someone through the two areas where you check your boarding pass (an automated gate before security where you scan your boarding pass and at the gate itself which is the first place they actually check your ID and boarding pass).
This happened because normal people are too polite and kind to interrogate every kid who passes through.
From your utter butchering of the Kings English, you're clearly an American
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In what possible way is this News for Nerds?
This is now a challenge. Proof by demonstration, I don't need to invent an invisibility cloak or iris scan spoofer, I just need to look for bored security guards.
As is often the case, XKCD beat us to this [xkcd.com]. The weak link in security often isn't the process or tools, it's the wetware. Nerds should bear that in mind when designing any system involving people.
Back to the original article, "embarassing" isn't the word I'd use. "Appalling", "horrifying", and "enraging" spring to mind.
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Those are not two discrete Domains. Tech doesn't exist in a vacuum. And security, including physical security, is part of tech.
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That airport is the epitome of bad design. I wouldn't be surprised if the guy who did this thought he was going into the toilet or something.
Based off the smell of Heathrow, this is likely.
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I agree here. I have a photo of the departure display that actually says "Departure Gate will be announced 20 minutes before boarding" AND "Please be aware of up to 20min walking time to the gates"
Well, thanks for that.
Is this a big deal? (Score:5, Insightful)
Actual terrorists will buy a ticket and find ways to get on the plane legally, so what are we really worried about here?
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I thought brexit was going to stop all immigration?
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Not to mention - given the ease w/ which "migrants" cross the English channel and land on English shores, w/o being obstructed by the Royal Navy or Coast Guard, it's not remotely surprising to see the Brits w/ such a cavalier attitude towards who enters their country
A few years ago, Heathrow was a transit point for a place I was going. When I landed there and entered the transit area, I thought that I was in Lahore, rather than London. The only English store I saw w/ English employees was the electronics store, where I bought a local British plug and iPhone charger
I do recognise the problems that come with modern migration, including the problem of people being disconcerted when the town in which they grew up changes its culture.
At the same time I would suggest that it's appropriate for an old colonial power to have a certain amount of humility before complaining that their country has been changed because of an influx of foreigners.
And remember that many of those shop assistants were likely to be UK citizens. During British rule of (pre-partition) India, Indians wer
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Britain did not rule more places over a longer period than any other empire. It was a very short-lived empire as things go. However, the main problem with immigration at the moment is the sheer numbers involved. For example, the housing shortage in the UK is entirely a consequence of the mass immigration in the last 20 years. Sure there are countries with higher population densities, but the native population of these islands didn't vote for and don't want to live in such a country. Then there is the issue
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Britain did not rule more places over a longer period than any other empire. It was a very short-lived empire as things go.
I stand corrected.
However, the main problem with immigration at the moment is the sheer numbers involved. For example, the housing shortage in the UK is entirely a consequence of the mass immigration in the last 20 years. Sure there are countries with higher population densities, but the native population of these islands didn't vote for and don't want to live in such a country.
The discomfort felt by people in the UK whose town has changed because of immigration is real and valid. And I agree that the scale of the problem is a factor.
But it should not be forgotten that the colonisation of India also brought discomfort to the people there, and that the presence of people from the Indian subcontinent in the UK is related to that colonisation.
Then there is the issue of somewhere between 20% and 30% of Muslims in the UK who would like to see Shira Law implemented. You get obserdities like the barrister who was defending an immigrant who raped a 15-year-old girl, saying in his defence that it would have been acceptable were he came from.
I don't think anyone proposing Sharia Law in the UK is likely to succeed. And if I were the judge I would challenge the barri
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Like another poster above said, there is the question of numbers. For instance, you could have put up w/ 1-2 guests in your house for, say, a week. But if you had to put up w/ 20, you'd say no. Let alone putting up w/ 20 indefinitely. Immigration doesn't scale well, especially when one considers the populations of Britain vs that of a lot of the countries - the subcontinent, Africa and so on
Also, I'm not sure that payback is the right grounds on which British, or Western immigration at large, should b
General troublemakers... (Score:2)
... and nutters, thats what. They might not have a bomb but they could quite easily kick off and cause injuries, cause the flight to have to divert or even return once taken off. Normal people don't board a random flight with no documentation especially when they'd almost certainly be caught at passport control the other end.
Security check (Score:2)
Security check is the only checkpoint where ticket/passport are NOT checked. They check for weapons and dangerous stuff, but can rightfully assume that everyone who shows up there is a legitimate passenger on SOME flight.
However, THREE other checkpoints should have caught him: Ticket check, Passport check and Gate check. The sole purpose of the first ticket check when leaving the public area of an airport is to make sure that the number of people passing is equal to the number of boarding passes presented.
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Security check is the only checkpoint where ticket/passport are NOT checked.
i've flown around most of europe (albeit not uk, although arguably uk is not europe), all the way to asia, and i never encountered a security check you could access without providing both your id and your ticket first. you can't even get in, the access gates are automated and won't open unless you feed them your boarding pass, and more often than not there's security personell watching over and directing people, and doublechecking your id. both id and boarding pass will be checked again at the boarding gate
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i never encountered a security check you could access without providing both your id and your ticket first. you can't even get in, the access gates are automated and won't open unless you feed them your boarding pass
Read the article: he tailgated. If you're so well traveled surely you recognise these boarding gates that are designed to allow people to drag their rollaboards through them are trivial to tailgate.
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You need to scan a boarding pass to get into the security check area, but it's about twenty years since I was last asked for a passport at that stage. In that time I've made more than a hundred flights in western Europe.
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Security check is the only checkpoint where ticket/passport are NOT checked.
i've flown around most of europe (albeit not uk, although arguably uk is not europe), all the way to asia, and i never encountered a security check you could access without providing both your id and your ticket first.
Yes. But these documents are checked BEFORE you get to the security check, not AT the security check. You're going through checks at 4 layered perimeters. Security (the x-ray and metal detector thingy) is usually No. 3. And they don't check your documents there.
But that means that not only one or two, but THREE independent checkpoints failed.
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Anyone who argues that the UK is not in Europe is a ignoramous at best. Europe is a continent, and not every country in Europe is in the EU. The British Isles are 100% in Europe, and arguing otherwise is idiotic.
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Europe is a continent
according to the anglosaxon model which is not shared by the whole world. at this point i find it prudent to note that no, the english speaking world is not the whole world.
The British Isles are 100% in Europe, and arguing otherwise is idiotic.
sheesh, karen, it was a figure of speech :-)
How the hell do you pull that off? (Score:2)
I mean, really? Even though I have TSA precheck, I still have to present ID and I still have to take my belt off because it sets off the metal detector. Hell, even my dog has to pass through the metal detector by herself. I just seems like we here in the US bend over backwards on everything but the rest of the world gets a pass.
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Well, you are assuming that those checks are actually working as intended and not just security theater.
I can confirm that they have the same checks in place in Heathrow. They are not working, that's different from not having them.
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You are conditioned to comply. This guy actively tried to circumvent the security process, and succeeded. Most people, like you and me, don't want to risk the fallout that would happen if we got caught. When somebody just doesn't care about the consequences of getting caught, they can find ways to get around security.
How many people board flights at Heathrow yearly? (Score:3)
The answer is about 5.7 million. So if this is the first instance of this happening in a year, a failure rate of one in 5.7 million is not too bad. We are only human and perfection is impossible.
That said, of course there needs to be an investigation and changed made to reduce the likelihood even further.
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But still, for that vector of attack 1:5.7 million is REALLY bad.
We are not talking about counterfeit documents or boarding the wrong plane. He didn't have any documents. And he passed through 4 layers of security (ticket, passport, security and gate check) where 3 are document checks, 2 of them supposed to check the validity of ticket/passport, and the first one specifically supposed to check the PRESENCE of those documents.
Yes, a fake boarding pass may not be checked until boarding at the gate and even ma
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Yes, I know. It was a terrible lapse in security. But given the chaos in a busy airport, I would not be surprised if it happens once every 5 million passengers. People are only human and humans have lapses.
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You have a way better chance to be hit by a bus, than he getting on the flight. The number of deadly traffic accidents per 5 million cars if a lot higher.
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You have a way better chance to be hit by a bus, than he getting on the flight. The number of deadly traffic accidents per 5 million cars if a lot higher.
That's a very good point.
The fear of terrorism has been promoted since "9/11", and measures taken to prevent terrorist attacks on flights are arguably out of proportion to the actual risk - Particularly if you compare it to the risk of having a traffic accident on the way to the airport.
We don't put safety measures in place purely to lower the total risk to life. We do what is easier, what is popular, and what doesn't cause problems with party funding.
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Yes. And we are only talking about he getting on the flight. That doesn't even imply that he does something bad on that flight. Or that he is successful doing something bad on that flight. I get the idea that you don't have external help on a plane if someone flips out, but reducing that risk would probably work with a tenth of the security theater we currently have.
Re: How many people board flights at Heathrow year (Score:2)
Re: How many people board flights at Heathrow year (Score:2)
This is the first time they found out.
They only found out because he was in someone else's seat.
Maybe this has happened multiple times on emptier flights, we don't know... But we know for sure that it could have because of this incident.
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The answer is about 5.7 million. So if this is the first instance of this happening in a year, a failure rate of one in 5.7 million is not too bad. We are only human and perfection is impossible.
That said, of course there needs to be an investigation and changed made to reduce the likelihood even further.
Aviation is so incredibly safe because of the attitude that "1 in 1 million" happens far too often to be left to chance.
That being said, aviation is a "just culture" so given that this failure meant that no-one was actually harmed and all that happened was a 12 year old kid flew to Rome (and back to London again) without a ticket. So they'll analyse what went wrong and then make a procedure to prevent it from happening again. No one will even get fired (doubly so as it takes so long for someone to get se
why was he arrested? (Score:1)
Why was this hacker arrested, shouldn't they arrest those who let him on instead?
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Incompetence is not criminal.
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given all of the levels of checks needed to board a plane this guy wasn't responsible either, if he was let on this means the system worked as expected
Not sure how where I fly (Score:2)
I don't know what it's like at Heathrow, but here at Seatac and generally other airports I've been to in the US/Canada you can't even get in line for security without going past a kiosk at the end of a roped-off area where security checks your boarding pass and passports (or other ID) in a computer. You might get lucky and be able to casually look like you're with someone else's party if you try hard enough, but at least whenever we go they always look at the passports and the individuals, including our kid
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Gate staff check your ID matches your ticket at the gate in Heathrow.
Access to the airside area is with a boarding pass (the pass must be for a flight departing the same day and sufficiently far in the future, each pass can only be scanned to go airside once).
However this is not a significant security breach because:
(a) it cannot be done repeatedly or predictably
(b) the person was security screened to the same standards as everyone else
Therefore neither can it be exploited by someone planning to do so nor c
Man? (Score:2)
Unnamed (Score:1)
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Re: Unnamed (Score:2)
If they are dead, would that be dead naming?
And no, I do not like Cherry Garcia ice cream. Or Shirley Temples. Although an Arnold Palmer can be nice on a hot day.
And how can we forget, Tom Collins and his buddy Captain Morgan.
What you should really be worried about at Heathro (Score:2)
Your bags.
https://python.mzonline.com/sk... [mzonline.com]
I'm sure (Score:2)
...he has been flying like that for years and was only now caught because there was no seat left for him this flight.
Pre 9/11 flying (Score:2)
As time goes on, fewer remember the ease of flying before 9/11.
I've done this (Score:2)
Actually, my means of bypassing that final check (since there's so many ways one could conceivably get t
experience (Score:2)
In my latest flight (inside EU) the strongest check happened at the gate, where the airline employees made sure the luggage is not larger than what I paid for (apparently they get bonuses for spotting such cases and make the customer pay more)
Interesting but no security concern (Score:2)
But no security risk, because anyone up to no good would obviously buy a ticket. Trying to get on a plane with a bomb or gun or knife but no ticket would just be obviously stupid. You wouldnâ(TM)t bring a bomb and risk being caught because you have no ticket.