A Delta airlines jet lands in front of the Miami FAA tower at Miami International Airport on April 22, 2013.
Miami Herald Staff
A passenger was removed from a Delta Airlines flight out of Orlando International Airport Saturday morning after it was determined she did not have a ticket for that flight, the airline confirmed.
The Atlanta-bound plane was delayed and everyone onboard had to be screened again.
Flight 1516 was scheduled to leave at 10:20 a.m. and didn’t leave until 1:13 p.m., according to the airline’s website.
“Delta apologizes to customers of flight 1516 for the delay after a person not ticketed for that flight was removed from the aircraft,” the company said in a statement Saturday night.
After the person, who authorities did not yet name was removed, “security officials then directed a precautionary rescreen of everyone onboard,” Delta said.
The Orlando Police Department said they responded to the airport at about 10:20 a.m. after getting a call about a “suspicious person.”
“Upon officers arrival, the passenger had been escorted off the plane by Delta representatives,” the department said in an email. “Delta representatives asked a female passenger who was sitting in someone else’s seat to produce a boarding pass in which she could not.”
Officers asked the woman for a ticket, but she said she threw it away and did not have identification, the department said. She was then told to leave the airport. Orlando police said the FBI was notified.
It was not immediately clear how the woman was able to board without the correct ticket. The airport and the Transportation Security Administration could not immediately be reached for comment.
“Delta is working with local law enforcement and the Transportation Security Administration on their investigation and we are conducting our own review of this as well,” the airline said in its statement. “Safety and security is always our top priority. “
Officers asked the passenger for identification and for her boarding pass in which she stated she threw her ticket away and did not have Identification. Since the passenger could not produce identification or a boarding pass, the Officers escorted the passenger to the shuttle to exit airport property.
Carli Teproff grew up in Northeast Miami-Dade and graduated from Florida International University in 2003. She became a full-time reporter for the Miami Herald in 2005 and now covers breaking news.