Security nightmare after child boards Shanghai flight with no ticket
A flight from Beijing to Shanghai was delayed for five hours on Sunday morning after cabin crew discovered a child had boarded the plane without a ticket, Chinese media reported.
All passengers on Flight 1252 operated by Juneyao Airlines, a Chinese carrier, were forced to disembark and go through security checks a second time, according to Beijing Youth Daily. The child was reportedly accompanied by three adults, who helped the minor board the flight undetected, the newspaper reported. An investigation has been launched.
The incident is the latest security scare involving Chinese airports and flights. Last month, an elderly woman delayed a China Southern Airlines flight for hours after throwing coins at the plane’s engine in a wish for a safe flight.
The Juneyao Airlines flight was due to depart Beijing Capital International Airport at 6.55am for Shanghai. After flight attendants discovered the ticketless child, they informed the passengers they would have to deplane and repeat the security screening procedures. The flight left around noon. The number of passengers was not given but the plane was an Airbus A321, which can seat more than 180 people.
Chinese internet users expressed exasperation over the incident and said the adults should be held responsible.
“What do children know about avoiding paying for tickets? Without adult ‘guidance’, what would the kid know about this?” one Weibo user wrote. “I would recommend the airport reinvestigate their security processes to see what the loopholes were.”
Another commenter based in Suzhou wrote: “What ‘great parents’, teaching their kid bad behaviour when they are young.”
A Henan-based internet user wrote: “First time hearing of someone trying to skip a plane ticket! Really have had enough! Ban them.”
Security scares are not uncommon on the mainland. A Chinese woman was detained on Saturday for five days after trying to force her way through a security checkpoint at Qingdao Airport in Shangdong province.
In February last year, the China Air Transport Association introduced a slew of new penalties against unruly passengers, including a flying ban in addition to existing fines. The blacklist comes amid an explosion in air travel by Chinese, with outbound trips increasing 4.3 per cent to 122 million last year, data from the China National Tourism Administration show.
