Despite heightened security after the foiling of the plot to blow up US-bound planes, a 12-year-old runaway boy managed to walk on to an international flight at London's Gatwick airport without a passport or boarding pass, a media report said on Wednesday.
The boy, who had run away from a care home at Merseyside and travelled to London by train, went to the airport's south terminal on Monday and was somehow able to pass through passport control and the full security screening process without anyone realising that he had no travel documents.
He joined a queue of passengers who were getting into a Monarch Airlines flight to Lisbon, but the crew noticed that he had no boarding pass.
The boy was led to a seat and the police was informed, The Times reported adding, two officers then boarded the plane and led him off.
Police said they were 'concerned by the security breach' and are investigating the incident, according to the paper.
BAA Gatwick said that it was treating the incident 'extremely seriously.
The boy, who is known to have run away from the care home on previous occasions, was held in custody at a police station before being returned to the institution.
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