Security breach at MAD 02/16/17
Feb 21, 2017, 10:45 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Programs: AA EXP, Marriott Silver
Posts: 88
Security breach at MAD 02/16/17
I realize this is a few days after the incident, but I just returned from an otherwise relaxing vacation.
I was on flight IB8784 MAD-BLQ on February 16, 2017. It was scheduled at 9:45am, but it was delayed about a half hour. When boarding finally started (at a K gate), we scanned our boarding passes and walked down the ramp, where we waited inside, prior to being escorted to the plane about 40 yards away on the Tarmac. Once boarding was complete, the FA made an announcement that the flight was headed to Bologna; nothing too out of the ordinary. Then we waited.
Another ten minutes passed, and the same announcement was made. The FA began walking down the aisle and re-counting passengers. It was clear the passenger list didn't match the number of passengers on board. Still, nothing too out of the ordinary.
Finally, the announcement that the plane was headed to Bologna was made a third time. Several minutes later, they announced that they needed to re-check everyone's boarding pass. Everyone's pass was checked and still no update on why we were being held at the gate.
People started chatting and suggested that one passenger toward the rear of the plane shouldn't be on the plane. Several times, FAs went back to the passenger's seat (a man about 30 years old), where it was becoming a minor commotion. Finally, we thought they identified the passenger, and they had asked him to get off the plane. I was getting a bit concerned that there was a man on our plane who shouldn't be (what were his motivations?), which seemed to be a clear breach in Madrid's security infrastructure.
Over the next hour and a half, other airport personnel (GAs? ground crew? not sure their roles) boarded, talked to the man, and then left. At one point, someone heard the police were coming. No police ever came. Finally, the man decided to gather his bags and deplane, unaccompanied by any flight crew member or airport personnel. He was met with airport personnel on the Tarmac. We departed nearly 2 hours late.
It turned out that the man did not have a boarding pass and had slipped past the gate agents (several passengers reported seeing him duck under the railing and run down the ramp to the Tarmac).
Few concerns/questions remain:
1. Why were the police/authorities never involved? Seems to be a significant security concern.
2. Why did it take nearly 2 hours to get this man off the plane? It would have been faster to have had everyone deplane and reinitiate the boarding process.
3. I realize this is just under the 2 hour limit for EU 261, but shouldn't we have been owed appropriate announcements/updates by the flight crew? Sure, this is a potentially delicate situation, but then, again, why were the police not immediately involved?!
4. Has this happened at Madrid before? If someone is able to board a plane without a boarding pass, what else can one do at Madrid that is in breach of their security?
I was on flight IB8784 MAD-BLQ on February 16, 2017. It was scheduled at 9:45am, but it was delayed about a half hour. When boarding finally started (at a K gate), we scanned our boarding passes and walked down the ramp, where we waited inside, prior to being escorted to the plane about 40 yards away on the Tarmac. Once boarding was complete, the FA made an announcement that the flight was headed to Bologna; nothing too out of the ordinary. Then we waited.
Another ten minutes passed, and the same announcement was made. The FA began walking down the aisle and re-counting passengers. It was clear the passenger list didn't match the number of passengers on board. Still, nothing too out of the ordinary.
Finally, the announcement that the plane was headed to Bologna was made a third time. Several minutes later, they announced that they needed to re-check everyone's boarding pass. Everyone's pass was checked and still no update on why we were being held at the gate.
People started chatting and suggested that one passenger toward the rear of the plane shouldn't be on the plane. Several times, FAs went back to the passenger's seat (a man about 30 years old), where it was becoming a minor commotion. Finally, we thought they identified the passenger, and they had asked him to get off the plane. I was getting a bit concerned that there was a man on our plane who shouldn't be (what were his motivations?), which seemed to be a clear breach in Madrid's security infrastructure.
Over the next hour and a half, other airport personnel (GAs? ground crew? not sure their roles) boarded, talked to the man, and then left. At one point, someone heard the police were coming. No police ever came. Finally, the man decided to gather his bags and deplane, unaccompanied by any flight crew member or airport personnel. He was met with airport personnel on the Tarmac. We departed nearly 2 hours late.
It turned out that the man did not have a boarding pass and had slipped past the gate agents (several passengers reported seeing him duck under the railing and run down the ramp to the Tarmac).
Few concerns/questions remain:
1. Why were the police/authorities never involved? Seems to be a significant security concern.
2. Why did it take nearly 2 hours to get this man off the plane? It would have been faster to have had everyone deplane and reinitiate the boarding process.
3. I realize this is just under the 2 hour limit for EU 261, but shouldn't we have been owed appropriate announcements/updates by the flight crew? Sure, this is a potentially delicate situation, but then, again, why were the police not immediately involved?!
4. Has this happened at Madrid before? If someone is able to board a plane without a boarding pass, what else can one do at Madrid that is in breach of their security?
Last edited by ajklink; Feb 21, 2017 at 11:00 am
