A flight to America 's adult playground , Las Vegas , had an unusual passenger last week : a 9-year-old boy traveling on his own , apparently without a ticket . The boy went through security with all other passengers , the Transportation Security Administration said in a statement , but officials are still trying to figure out how he did it -- and how he then got on the flight . Patrick Hogan , a spokesman for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport , said the crew of Delta Flight 1651 `` became suspicious of the child 's circumstances '' during the flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas . Crew members got in touch with authorities in Las Vegas and turned the boy over to Child Protective Services , Hogan said in a statement . `` Fortunately , the flight crew took appropriate actions to ensure the child 's safety , so the story does have a good ending , '' he said . Delta said it takes the incident `` very seriously '' and is working with authorities . The airline spells out its policy about children flying solo plainly on its website . Children between the ages of 5 and 14 may travel alone as part of the unaccompanied minor program . Someone from Delta pays special attention to the children , walks them on board , shows them their seats and even introduces them to the cockpit crew , time permitting , Delta says , adding , `` Kids love this part . '' Airport officials reviewed security footage and do n't think the child had a ticket , CNN affiliate KARE reported . The boy , a runaway from the Twin Cities , spent a good amount of time at the airport before boarding the plane , KARE said . He was there the day before , the station reported , citing airport officials . He passed his time by taking luggage from a carousel , bringing it to an airport eatery and then ditching it , asking a server to watch the bag `` while he went to the restroom . '' The following day the child took the train to the airport , cleared security and made it to Las Vegas nearly without detection . `` Obviously , the fact that the child 's actions were n't detected until he was in flight is concerning , '' Hogan wrote . Still , 33 million people travel through Minneapolis ' airport every year , he noted . `` I do n't know of another instance in my 13 years at the airport in which anything similar has happened , '' he said . Man pleads guilty to slapping crying boy on Delta flight . A flight security expert said it 's very concerning that the child made it through several security checks . `` All of this ( security ) since 9/11 has been to keep us safe . And it has , but still we have gaping holes , and this is a perfect example of it , '' Terry Trippler of ThePlaneRules.com told KARE . The incident may be a first for Minneapolis , but over the years other airports have had similar incidents . In 2007 , another 9-year-old managed to fly from Seattle to Phoenix to San Antonio before being found out . He had a boarding pass , though . His mother told CNN her son gave ticketing agents a fake name . Last year an 11-year-old boy in Manchester , England , managed to slip away from his mother during a shopping trip . He made it all the way to Rome without a boarding pass or a passport . But any Colosseum dreams were dashed . He never left the airport in Rome and was returned to his parents the same day .
The TSA says the boy went through security with all other passengers . A child , apparently without a ticket , boards a flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas . Mid-flight the Delta crew becomes suspicious of the child 's `` circumstances '' The 9-year-old is thought to have been at the airport the day before as well .