SALT LAKE CITY — A sex offender with a stolen boarding pass got through airport security this month in Salt Lake City and checked in at a gate for a flight to California before he was caught, authorities have disclosed.
Michael Salata, 61, was arrested Nov. 5 after boarding the Southwest Airlines flight, according to jail records obtained Thursday.
He had grabbed a boarding pass that a woman accidently left at a check-in kiosk and used it to get through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint, said Craig Vargo, chief of airport police.
It’s unclear why the incident was not disclosed by authorities until 20 days after it happened.
The news surfaced during one of the busiest travel times of the year and while the country is on alert after recent terror attacks abroad.
President Barack Obama has sought to reassure Americans by saying authorities are equipped to prevent attacks in the U.S.
The day after the security breach in Utah, TSA officials in Washington announced enhanced security for certain inbound international flights in response to an explosion aboard a Russian passenger jet after takeoff from Egypt.
Salata was detained after the woman who had left the pass at the kiosk checked in using a replacement ticket that had been uploaded to her phone, Vargo said.
A TSA spokeswoman said an agent made a mistake in identifying Salata.
