Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally tonight: the school boy stowaway who slipped onto a jet in England
and ended up in Italy. Ciaran Jenkins of Independent Television News
tells the story. CIARAN JENKINS: Liam Corcoran flew Jet2 to
Rome yesterday afternoon, and nobody knew he was there, which is surprising, given that
Liam is 11 years old and had no money, no passport, and no ticket.
RUSSELL CRAIG, Manchester Airport: We're certainly not proud of what's happened, and that's why
we and the airline are doing an investigation. Now, if you think about what security is like
at this time of year, there's lots of families traveling on holiday.
An 11-year-old boy turns up. He's very confident. He's mingled with other families, presented
himself to security. At that point, we should have realized he didn't have a boarding card.
CIARAN JENKINS: What he did have was a knack for evading detection, wandering off from
his mom while they were out shopping and then somehow navigating the three miles from Wythenshawe
shops to Manchester Airport. Now only the meticulous security checks of
an Olympic host nation stood between him and Italy. Anyone who has flown recently will
know just how tough they are on what you can take on board, no oversized luggage, no big
bottles of water. But if he's cunning enough to slip alongside you, you can take on an
11-year-old boy without anyone really noticing. Tagged along with a family, Liam slid past
security, where he should have been asked for his boarding card and passport. Of course,
he had neither, and yet he still eased through the second check at the boarding gate.
Finally, he snuck on to the plane, this time without cabin crew seeing his boarding card
or spotting him during a routine head count. Liam's adventure only ended when fellow passengers
clocked he was alone. JUSTINE GREENING, British transportation secretary:
It is obviously quite an exceptional thing that has happened. But we need to learn from
it and then take the necessary steps to make sure it doesn't happen in the future.
CIARAN JENKINS: Jet2 said they're investigating the incident and have suspended three members
of staff. They put Liam on the return plane home and he was reunited last night with his
mom.