Federal transportation authorities are investigating how a 33-year-old Chicago man circumvented security at Midway Airport before trying to get on a Southwest Airlines flight without a boarding pass Tuesday night.
Elvis Jackson, of the 9000 block of South University Avenue, has been charged with misdemeanor trespassing offenses, said Chicago Police Officer Michael Sullivan.
At about 10 p.m., Jackson tried to get on Southwest Flight 908 to Birmingham, Ala., when he was found out, said TSA spokesman Jim Fotenos in an email message.
"TSA is reviewing the incident and working with the Chicago Police Department on the investigation," he said.
Sullivan said the plane was at Gate B20. Jackson was taken into custody without incident.
According to FlightAware.com, a flight tracking site, Flight 908 was scheduled to take off at 9:45 p.m., but didn't leave Chicago until just before 11 p.m. It arrived in Birmingham about an hour and 15 minutes later.
At a City Council budget hearing this morning, city Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino was questioned about the security breach.
"Right now we're reviewing all of the tapes, all of the footage we have from the thousands of security cameras that we have in our airport," Andolino said. "We're looking at that, working with TSA and garnering more information on how that penetration happened, and if it happened. What actually happened, we're looking at that."
http://www.chicagotribune.com
CHICAGO (WLS) - A South Side man was arrested at Midway Airport Tuesday night after he allegedly “forcefully” passed a Southwest Airlines gate agent and managed to board a flight without a ticket or boarding pass.
Elvis Jackson, of the 9000 block of South University Avenue, has been charged with misdemeanor trespassing offenses, said Chicago Police Officer Michael Sullivan.
At about 10 p.m., Jackson tried to get on Southwest Flight 908 to Birmingham, Ala., when he was found out, said TSA spokesman Jim Fotenos in an email message.
"TSA is reviewing the incident and working with the Chicago Police Department on the investigation," he said.
Sullivan said the plane was at Gate B20. Jackson was taken into custody without incident.
According to FlightAware.com, a flight tracking site, Flight 908 was scheduled to take off at 9:45 p.m., but didn't leave Chicago until just before 11 p.m. It arrived in Birmingham about an hour and 15 minutes later.
At a City Council budget hearing this morning, city Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino was questioned about the security breach.
"Right now we're reviewing all of the tapes, all of the footage we have from the thousands of security cameras that we have in our airport," Andolino said. "We're looking at that, working with TSA and garnering more information on how that penetration happened, and if it happened. What actually happened, we're looking at that."
http://www.chicagotribune.com
CHICAGO (WLS) - A South Side man was arrested at Midway Airport Tuesday night after he allegedly “forcefully” passed a Southwest Airlines gate agent and managed to board a flight without a ticket or boarding pass.
Elvis Jackson, 33, of the 9000 block of South University Avenue, was taken into custody without incident and charged with criminal trespass to state land and criminal trespass to real property, police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak said.
“We had an incident last night where a passenger passed our gate agent forcefully and got into a plane,” said Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Olga Romero.
Flight No. 908 had 71 passengers aboard at the time and it was bound for Birmingham, Ala., said Romero.
The gate agent called police and the man was arrested, Romero said. No one was hurt,
Jackson had no boarding pass or ticket for a Southwest Airlines flight he boarded sometime late Tuesday, Kubiak said.
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