The mangled body of a 16-year-old boy from North Carolina mysteriously dropped from the sky down to a Boston suburb last month. Authorities now believe the teen breached airport security, and managed to hide himself inside the wheel well of a US Airways Boeing 737. He is believed to have then fallen to his death as the plane lowered its landing gear on approach to Boston’s Logan Airport.
The corpse of Delvonte Tisdale, 16, was found in a quiet neighborhood in Milton, Mass., Nov. 15, below a flight path to Logan.
“It appears more likely than not that Mr. Tisdale was able to breach airport security and hide in the wheel well of a commercial jet airliner without being detected by airport security,” Norfolk County District Attorney William R. Keating said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
Mr. Keating said he alerted federal authorities and the Charlotte Airport that the teenager was able to breach airport security and get onto the plane. While the case is a tragedy, Mr. Keating said, it also underscores fears that someone with malicious intention could do the same thing.
At the risk of pointing out what is very much apparent: all the TSA’s invasive body-scanning and crotch-groping failed to prevent this. What if this kid was a suicide bomber stowaway, strapped with explosives? How did this happen?
From a report by a Charlotte, NC news station:
Police found a note on the body which appears to be a school “hall pass” with the “Delvonte Tisdale A Lunch” written on it, along with a signature and the date 10/19/2010.
Body Fell From Plane, Authorities Say (NYT)
Related: Delvonte Tisdale’s death is a tragedy that raises questions about security, DA says (Boston Globe)
Report: ‘Nearly certain’ teen stowed away on US Airways jet (Charlotte Observer)
DA: NC teen’s body found in Milton likely fell from plane (WHDH)
North Carolina kin baffled by theory teen fell from plane (Boston Herald)
N.C. school grapples with teen’s death (Boston Globe)