The Transportation Security Administration determined the man went through a security screening with proper identification and a boarding pass, though it was for a different airline.
“The guy was a legitimate passenger with valid ID and he went through the security process just like everybody else,” said Lisa Farbstein, a TSA spokesperson.
Benton, who lives in the Atlanta suburbs, said authorities told her family that the man had a ticket for a flight to El Salvador and that one of his family members informed them he had mental health issues.
For Benton and her family, the ordeal — first reported by USA Today — started hours before the flight. Benton, who works in IT consulting, said her husband, Nathan Benton, first noticed the man as her bag was being checked at the TSA checkpoint. The stranger followed the family of four even as they moved slowly through the terminal.
When the family sat down at the empty gate, the man sat in a row of seats opposite theirs, Benton said.
“We weren’t really sure what this guy’s intentions were,” she said. “At this point in time, we were aware but not alarmed.”
Alarm bells went off when she said she used the women’s restroom and came out of the stall to find the man washing his hands and no one else in the room.
“I just think to myself: ‘I need to get out of there now,’” Benton said. She told her husband what had happened, but said they were still trying to stay calm for the children and didn’t see security officials to share concerns with.
The family got some food and then tried to find a spot near the gate away from the man. He mirrored their movements, creating “this kind of cat-and-mouse game,” Benton said. When the gate agent called for families who needed extra time to board, the Bentons jumped at the chance to shake him.
They lined up with Benton first, followed by their daughters and her husband last. The man followed directly behind her husband, unsuccessfully asking a flight attendant for a drink when he got on board, she said.
Once they settled into the seats, Benton and her younger daughter sat in one row, and her other daughter took a window seat in the row behind them next to Benton’s husband, who sat in the middle. The stranger took the aisle seat next to Benton’s husband, she said. Her husband confronted the man, who she said claimed he was in the right seat.
That’s when Benton asked to speak privately to a flight attendant, shared her concerns and asked that the man be separated from the family if he was ticketed for the flight.
Because the man’s presence was flagged early, the airline had not reached the step in the boarding process where gate agents and flight attendants would have checked to make sure the number of passengers whose passes were scanned matched the number of people on the plane.
“Delta has processes in place for gate agents and flight crews to verify that individuals onboard aircraft prior to departure are customers that are booked on that particular flight,” the airline said in a statement. “Delta is reviewing the matter in question internally and has been in touch with airport authorities in conjunction with this review.”
After the man was removed, Benton said the pilot was reassuring to the family, giving the girls snacks and water. He addressed the issue to passengers by saying “We had an intruder on the plane,” she said, and the airline removed everyone for an extra security sweep. The flight took off about an hour and half late, Benton said.
When the passengers had to leave the plane, Benton said she tried to assure her daughters that they were safe.
“My children were terrified,” she said.
Delta has already dealt with an unauthorized passenger this year. In March, a Texas man was arrested after getting on a flight using a boarding pass he photographed from a ticketed traveller.
In that case, a gate agent noticed that the ticket system showed the legitimate passenger was already on board when she scanned her pass. The man who boarded under false pretences had raised suspicions on board, and the plane returned to the gate, where he was arrested for being a stowaway, according to a criminal complaint.
Benton said she still doesn’t have answers as to how an intruder got on her flight, but she wants Delta to provide an explanation. She is still uncertain about what his intentions were.
She recently heard from a customer service agent, who offered an apology but no answers.
“Trust has to be restored,” she said.
Razzan Nakhlawi and Kelly Kasulis Cho contributed to this report.
