A woman managed to bypass a TSA security checkpoint at Nashville International Airport and board a flight to Los Angeles last week — all without a boarding pass.
Officials say the woman, who had not been charged as of Thursday, hopped over one of the security stanchions at Nashville International Airport, bypassing the first layer of TSA security without showing any boarding pass or identification.
Mark Howell, a regional spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration, said the woman blended back into the security line after bypassing the first checkpoint.
She then passed her bags through security. She also passed through the security scanner.
TSA officials said there was nothing illegal or suspicious on her person or her bags, and she continued away from the security checkpoint without incident.
Once inside, the woman was able to board a flight to Los Angeles, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Los Angeles field office confirmed.
“That is pretty astonishing, to tell you the truth,” said Oksana Willower, a traveler from Florida, who felt that someone at the TSA “obviously failed at their job.”
“You have to show your ID, you have to show your ticket, you have to be able to go in. So how did she manage to get through the line?” Willower asked.
In a statement shared with KTLA sister station WKRN, a spokesperson for the TSA said the agency is cooperating with the investigation.
“TSA is reviewing the circumstances of this matter, but can confirm that the traveler in question was physically screened, along with their carry-on items, without incident at the Nashville International Airport security checkpoint on February 7th before boarding the flight,” the statement reads, in part. “TSA and its airline partners are cooperating with the ongoing law enforcement investigation.”
In its statement, the TSA also said airlines are responsible for barring unticketed travelers from their flights.
“Beyond the TSA security checkpoint, the boarding procedure at the terminal gate to enter the aircraft is monitored by the airline,” a TSA spokesperson wrote.
A similar incident occurred last year when a Russian man flew from Europe to LAX without a ticket.
A spokesperson for the FBI confirmed that the woman was detained and questioned, and an investigation is ongoing.
