- Lauren Benton says an unidentified man stalked her family at the airport
- She then sat in the same row as her children on a Delta flight.
A mother of two says she realized something was wrong when a strange man sat near her children on a flight out of Washington DC as they tried to return home to Georgia.
Lauren Benton He told USA Today that she, her husband Nathan and their two children, ages six and nine, were flying home from Dulles International Airport on Aug. 2 when a man standing near them at the TSA checkpoint began following them to their gate.
The unidentified man even followed Benton and her daughter into the women’s bathroom, she said.
“My heart sank into my stomach,” Benton said. “We were trying to create the feeling that our children were safe at all times.”
He then continued to harass the family when they boarded their Delta flight during early boarding and sat in their row, before he was forcibly removed.
An unidentified man was forcibly removed from a Delta Airlines flight departing Dulles International Airport on August 2.
Benton said that at first, she and her husband tried to remain calm so as not to upset their children.
But when the man boarded the plane and sat near them, she knew she had to do something as her children were becoming increasingly anxious.
She then called a flight attendant and discreetly informed him of the situation, and the man was escorted off the flight, USA Today reports.
A subsequent investigation found that the man did not have a boarding pass for the flight to Georgia, but did have a boarding pass and valid identification for another flight that day.
The plane then had to be evacuated and a security check was conducted, which Benton said took between an hour and a half and two hours to complete.
Lauren Benton says the man stalked her family from the TSA checkpoint to their gate.
The TSA later told Benton it was investigating the incident, but told USA Today in a statement that it found there were no security lapses at the checkpoint because the man had a valid boarding pass and ID.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates Dulles International Airport, also confirmed the man was escorted off the plane but said no charges were filed and he eventually continued on to his final destination.
Authorities also noted that the man appeared to have mental health issues.
Meanwhile, Delta Airlines said it was investigating how the man was able to board the plane without a valid boarding pass.
“Delta has processes in place for gate agents and flight crews to verify that individuals on board the aircraft prior to departure are customers who have reservations on that particular flight,” a spokesperson said.
‘Delta is reviewing the matter internally and has been in contact with airport authorities regarding this review.’
Airport officials confirmed the man was escorted off the flight but said no charges were filed.
But Benton said he doesn’t understand how such a security breach could have occurred.
“Only people who were supposed to be on the plane should have been allowed on board,” he lamented. “I would like to know how this happened.”
“We live in a post-9/11 era and people think something like this isn’t possible, but it is entirely possible.”
She went on to say that she sympathizes with the man’s mental health issues, “but I will not allow mental health to be used as an excuse to compromise my family’s safety.”
Benton also said he now hopes stakeholders will work to ensure nothing like this happens again.
In the meantime, she said she and her family will develop their own safety plan.
“Don’t be overconfident,” Benton now warns the other passengers.
“Be prepared to talk.”