In a worrying security mishap, a 6ft bearded bouncer managed to get through airport security using his girlfriend’s passport. And no, they do not look alike.
Josh Reed had mistakenly picked up his girlfriend’s passport before setting off on a lad’s holiday, the Daily Mail reports.
Shockingly, he was let through airport security at London’s Stansted Airport, and didn’t even realise his mistake until his Ryanair flight had landed in Dortmund, Germany.
It was then that he discovered the passport he was holding belonged to his 5ft 2in partner, Sophie Watkins, and not him.
Speaking to The Sun, Josh said:
I thought it was my passport, the lady checked it with my boarding pass. It wasn’t until we landed that I spotted it.
It makes you wonder how easy it would be for people that look alike to get through on fake passports.
Concerned about the efficiency of airport security, Josh also noted that the couple ‘have different surnames and couldn’t look more different.’
But it’s not as uncommon as you think. According to the Daily Mail, a woman on board a British Airways flight used a fake passport last month, and in 2014, a widow went through two airport checks using her dead husband’s passport.
Ryanair has defended its lack of security, saying: “Swissport, our handling agent at the boarding gate, mistakenly forgot to check the passport of this passenger. It assured us appropriate steps will be taken to prevent a recurrence.”
Luckily, Josh managed to get through the German border using his driver’s licence and his girlfriend sent his real passport for his return flight.
This takes worrying airport security to a whole new level…
