An Afghan individual managed to elude numerous security checks at Vienna International Airport and secretly boarded a Hainan Airlines flight bound for China. He was only detected when the plane was well into its journey to Shenzhen, an 11 – hour, 8,680 – kilometer flight from the Austrian capital.
Authorities have not disclosed the precise date of this recent event. However, officials at Vienna – Schwechat Airport, along with the local police department and the public prosecutor’s office, have verified that an investigation has been launched.
A spokesperson for the airport has emphasized that the stowaway underwent the same security screening as all other passengers. Thus, the likelihood of him bringing any prohibited items on board the flight is extremely low.
Nevertheless, there are queries that must be addressed regarding how the man was permitted to enter the security checkpoint in the first place, considering he did not possess a boarding pass.
So far, officials surmise that the stowaway managed to pass through the passport control for non – Schengen zone departures by attaching himself to a large family group and blending in with the legitimate passengers.
The stowaway then managed to slip past the gate agents and board the plane, where he immediately concealed himself in an onboard restroom. The cabin crew did not notice the man until the aircraft had already taken off and was a significant distance into the flight.
By this time, it was too late to return to Vienna. So, Hainan Airlines flight HU – 790 continued its journey to Shenzhen, where the man was handed over to the police. Chinese authorities promptly deported the man and sent him back to Vienna, where he was arrested and questioned by the police.
Despite the man’s ability to bypass border controls and leave Austria, he has since been released on bail.
This incident took place just a few months after a Russian stowaway managed to secretly board a Delta Air Lines flight from New York JFK and was only discovered when the plane was in the final hour of its transatlantic flight to Paris.
In that instance, the female stowaway also hid in the onboard lavatories throughout the flight until the cabin crew eventually became suspicious and asked her to show her boarding pass.
Just weeks later, Delta flight attendants successfully prevented a stowaway attempt by an un-ticketed suspect who tried to avoid the gate agents and secretly board a flight bound for Honolulu from Seattle Tacoma International Airport on Christmas Eve.
Flight attendants are supposed to check the onboard restrooms for stowaways and passengers before departure, although not every airline mandates that the lavatories be locked during taxi and takeoff.
