Airline Worker Arrested After Bypassing Security, Boarding Flight

A Delta employee was arrested after he allegedly flashed a security badge and boarded a flight out of John F. Kennedy International Airport without a boarding pass or undergoing screening, the TSA said.

Marcelino Aponte, 31, had a reservation on a flight from Kennedy to Florida Thursday night, but no identification and no boarding pass so TSA officers turned him away at a security checkpoint. 

Aponte then allegedly proceeded to make his way to the plane using secure areas such as baggage loading areas, taxiways, runways and boarding gates. The TSA says all employees working in those areas are required to have a Secure Identification Display Area badge, which Aponte did.

Ultimately, Aponte made his way to the plane and boarded without ever going through security, according to the TSA; the New York Post says he had a duffel bag with him that was never searched.

The Bronx man was arrested when his flight arrived in Orlando, the TSA said. The agency said the TSA contacted police about the breach within 10 minutes of learning it had happened.

Aponte will be charged in Brooklyn with several misdemeanors relating to airline security breaches, according to the Post. Information on an attorney wasn't immediately available.

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