Major security breach

Briton boarded jet to New York unnoticed

A frightening security breach occurred at London's Heathrow Airport last December. It has now been revealed that a 46-year-old British man sneaked on board a British Airways jet bound for New York without a passport or ticket. The stowaway was only discovered after landing in the USA. He was arrested and had to fly back.

As the British Daily Mail reported, Craig Sturt had managed to pass through security checks in Terminal 5 by cheating his way through in the "slipstream" of other passengers. During the eight-hour flight, there was food and drink for the 46-year-old, as there was for all other (but paying) guests.

On his arrival at JFK airport, however, it was the end of the line for Sturt. He was arrested and had to take the next flight back to his home country on Christmas Day, where he was initially taken to a hospital in the English town of Reading. The man managed to escape from there. Sturt has been wanted ever since. A police mugshot was issued on January 30.

Home Secretary demands "answers"
Security authorities in both the USA and the UK are horrified. "It's hard to imagine what would have happened if a terrorist had been able to board an airplane unnoticed," the British newspaper "Sun" quoted a police source as saying. Home Secretary James Cleverly is demanding "urgent answers" as to how this incident could have happened.

British Airways told the media that it was cooperating intensively with the authorities. A spokeswoman for Heathrow Airport emphasized that "all people who fly are subject to a security check". This was also carried out in this case. How Sturt still managed to get through without papers remains a mystery for the time being.