Not my fault- yourfault

[Kip Powick]

Blame game ensues after man boards jet without ticket, boarding pass:

American Airlines and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are pointing fingers at each other about how a man without a valid ticket or boarding pass was able to board a flight to Miami.

Without any documentation, 29-year-old Danis Ballard made it onboard American's Newark-to-Miami flight, where he was discovered only after a head-count on the packed plane, and AA faces a $25,000 fine for allowing the man onboard, but the carrier says at least part of the blame should fall on the TSA.

"It would seem (TSA officials) did not look at the document very closely either," says AA spokesman Tim Smith, noting that Ballard made it past airport security checkpoints. Smith also says AA is trying to figure out what part of the gaffe is it is responsible for.

Despite what appear to be ID checks performed as passengers enter the security screening queues at U.S. airports, TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis tells the paper that the "TSA does not match passengers' IDs with their boarding passes." Davis says Ballard went to the AA ticket counter but balked at buying a last-minute flight to Miami because it was too expensive. In the process, an agent had printed him an itinerary — but not a ticket — but that was apparently enough to get him past security and onto the plane.