Passenger vanishes after obtaining boarding pass

The ‘disappearance’ of a Mumbai-bound passenger, Solanki, after obtaining boarding pass from Cochin International Airport spread panic among the security personnel and airport authorities on Sunday evening.Solanki had obtained boarding pass to fly by Go Air flight on Sunday evening. He was waiting in the security area after completing all formalities when he reportedly got some telephonic message.

He asked the security personnel to allow him to leave the airport for some urgent personal need. But they turned down his plea as he had completed all formalities to board the flight.According to aviation security norms, allowing a passenger to leave the airport after completing the formalities of the journey including checking and clearing of luggage, is a serious security violation.

In such cases the traveller will be allowed to leave the airport only if the security personnel were clearly convinced of the reason for leaving. The boarding pass and luggage clearance should be cancelled before allowing the passenger to leave the airport.But in this case, Solanki managed to escape from the security zone reportedly without undergoing security formalities. Solanki left the airport by arranging a pre-paid taxi from the airport counter inside the domestic terminal.

The flight had to be detained as the ground handling staff and security personnel could not locate Solanki who had obtained the boarding pass. However, the flight was allowed to take off from Kochi airport after 30 minutes after a thorough check of the luggage.