Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave

I was a hefty kid so it never happened to me despite making 6 intercontinental flights a year on my own from 12 years old onwards (though I was nearly arrested in France because I didn't have mes papiers, which if you're 14 you don't need, until les flics think you're older than 18...).

However I can recall the story of my slim older cousin who fought in the first Gulf War, he was 17 years old at the time. He was stopped upon return to LHR and asked why his parents hadn't given him travel permission. He pointed out, to the woman's evident shock, that he was old enough to be a professional soldier and therefore was beyond parental control.