An Austrian Airlines crew arriving before dawn to prepare the first flight of the day out of Košice, Slovakia, to Vienna found a man they had never seen asleep in row one. When the captain woke him, the stowaway asked “Are we flying already?”
He had no ticket and no identification. He had never passed through airport security. Instead, he helped himself to coffee and food inside closed airport concessions, climbed the perimeter fence, wandered the apron for nearly an hour, walked up mobile stairs left beside the aircraft and opened the passenger door. And nobody responsible for airport security noticed him until the flight crew came to work.
Credit: Robo0000100 via Wikimedia Commons
Airlines Say They Want Passengers To Use Self-Service
The incident occurred during the night of Wednesday, July 22, into Thursday, July 23, at Košice International Airport.
According to detailed reporting the 50-year-old Slovak man appeared in the public terminal at about 1 a.m.
- He entered one closed bar and made himself coffee.
- He went into another concession, ate and left a mess behind. The businesses were reportedly blocked off with tables or chairs rather than locked.
- He encountered an airport employee and asked about departures. His conversation was confusing, but the employee believed he left the airport.
- At a point away from the terminal, he climbed the airport perimeter fence.
- He spent nearly an hour wandering the restricted apron without being stopped.
- He found an Austrian Airlines aircraft parked overnight with mobile stairs still positioned at the forward door. The door was closed but reportedly unlocked.
- He opened it, settled into the first row and fell asleep.
The Embraer E195LR had arrived from Vienna as flight OS653 at 11:17 p.m. After 4 a.m., the Austrian captain and crew arrived to prepare flight OS654, scheduled to leave for Vienna at 5:25 a.m. That is when they found their unmanifested first row passenger.
A Security Sweep Followed
Airport security detained the man and handed him to police. He had no identification and the airport says he showed signs of mental distress. The captain requested a complete security inspection. Police brought in a pyrotechnician, a dog handler and an explosives-detection dog. No dangerous device was found.
European security rules require an aircraft search whenever there is reason to believe an unauthorized person gained access.
Flight 654 finally departed at 7:36 a.m., 2 hours and 11 minutes late, and arrived in Vienna at 8:18 a.m. That left passengers short of the three-hour arrival delay generally required for EU261 cash compensation. A delay of at least two hours qualifies for a meal voucher.
This Was A Security Breakdown Across The Board
Much of the coverage focuses on the aircraft being left unlocked. Rules don’t actually require every door of a parked aircraft to be locked. An external door can be protected by ensuring that an intruder is promptly challenged, by keeping the door closed or through electronic monitoring.
But a bigger issue is that the perimeter didn’t stop him. Surveillance did not produce a response. Nobody challenged a man without airport identification wandering the apron in the middle of the night. And mobile stairs were left in position, turning a closed aircraft door into one he could simply reach and open.
Košice is Slovakia’s second-largest airport, handling 827,798 passengers last year. It’s 66% owned by Vienna International Airport. The airport says it immediately adopted heightened security measures, but it has not explained how the man crossed the fence, remained on the apron for so long, or reached an aircraft given extensive camera coverage.
This Doesn’t Happen Often, But More Often Than You’d Think
I’ve written about passengers accidentally being left asleep on empty aircraft and about stowaways bypassing multiple passenger and boarding checks.
(HT: One Mile at a Time)
Hope he enjoyed his nap-nap. More of those to be had in jail, probably.
As for the route, Vienna to the east of Slovakia doesn’t have a highway or rail option that’s better than a 50-minute flight?
Maybe Eastern Europe really is still a bit behind. *hands waiter a Nickel in Bratislava* “I quit, start my own hotel!”
I love that airport. Tiny, but perfect for in and out. Much more efficient than waiting for hours to sit in an overcrowded lounge.
I can totally picture this happening. There are early morning flights leaving at 5 am and the airport itself is basically closed until an hour before, but the doors are open and some lights are left on so you can wait in the terminal.
@1990: Stop being so narrow-minded.
If I want to get to northern Hungary, this is by far the most convenient option. Nearest international airport is BUD which is 3 hours away. Vienna is 5 hours away.
@Common Sense — No, I did look it up; 50 minutes flight, 5+ hours by car, 6+ by train (and most of that is Slovak Rail ‘express’ on their main track from Bratislava), 7+ by bus via Budapest. For equivalent travel options in the US, there’d probably not even be a viable train option, unless in NE, PNW, or, ironically, FL (if the Brightline doesn’t go bankrupt).
Ok, so stop lecturing people to take a 7 hour train when they can take a 50 minute flight, especially as most continue to a connecting destination.
Stop being ridiculous and learn some humility.
@Common Sense — Right, right, humility. For you, reading comprehension: 6+, 7+ is the bus.
Not every train in europe is efficient between smaller cities.
And the punchline: The guy is HON Circle.
@Common Sense, I’d rather take a 7-hour train ride than a 50-minute flight in Europe. I check out of my hotel at 8:30, walk to the station and get on my 9am train. At 4pm, the train arrives, a short walk (sometimes a tram ride) , and I’m in my room before 5pm. What a relaxing day of travel. Or, I guess I could check out at 8:30, take the long trip to the airport, so I’ll be on time for my 11am flight. Arrive at 11:50, get to the hotel at 1:30 and wait for my room to be available at 3 or 4.
But, yes, I’m flying not using the train for connections.
@Jeffrey Berlat — Umm, at least for Slovakia, the only real ‘cities’ are basically Bratislava and Kosice, and there very much is a train between them; whether their ‘express’ is efficient or not is subjective (no, it’s not TGV, not even Frecciarossa). I’ve been to Bratislava; they have a castle, and a bridge that looks like a flying-saucer. IMHO, one night, or even as a day-trip is ‘enough’; as far E. European cities go, Prague, Vienna, and Budapest have much more to offer.
@thiscomestomind: You have clearly never flown out of KSC. You can roll out of bed 35 minutes before the flight and make it easily.
@Common Sense — Wait, so, you’re based in Slovakia? This I would not have guessed. Bah! Meanwhile, @This comes to mind is based in Ohio (he let slip once that his ‘homeport’ is CMH), though, he does go to Europe and ‘Down Under’ at least once a year (in J!) Finally, he pretends to not read whatever I write on here… *wink*
I am not based in Slovakia lol.
USA.
@Common Sense — Oh, well, based on your extensive knowledge of rolling out of bed in Košice and flying out from Košice International Airport… it appears I’ve been catfished!
Lol, all it takes is one time to see it and I was there twice (4 times, technically). It’s a tiny airport.
@Common Sense — It was all worth it for the lolz.