Yes...Security is working -----?

[Kip Powick]

Boy, 9, sneaks onto jet

Semaj Booker had never flown before. In fact, the resourceful 9-year-old had never even been to an airport.But "he knew he wanted to go to Texas," his youth pastor, Rev. Tony McMath, said Thursday, retelling the story the boy told him.

Get there he did.

In an age of heightened security, water-bottle bans and rigorous ID checks, Semaj sneaked onto a Southwest Airlines flight at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday and flew into and out of Phoenix before getting caught in San Antonio.

The day before, Lakewood, Wash., police say, he led them on a high-speed chase in a neighbor's car.

"He's just a smart young man. He's a quick learner," says McMath, of St. John Baptist Church in Tacoma. "He figured out how to get the keys, how to get the car, how to catch the bus, how to catch the plane."

The Transportation Security Administration is reviewing how the boy got a boarding pass, says spokeswoman Amy Kudwa. She noted that he had to pass through security just like other passengers. Southwest also is investigating.

Security consultant Stephen Luckey says the breach doesn't reveal significant holes in anti-terrorism protections but offers some "cheap, free lessons." "We need to be a bit more stringent," says Luckey, a retired airline pilot.

Semaj is one of four kids being raised by single mom Sakinah Booker, McMath says. He says he has been working with the boy for a few weeks at Booker's request "to help him figure out different ways to deal with his frustrations."

On Sunday, Semaj jumped in a neighbor's car, which was running and unlocked, and led police on a chase at speeds "in excess of 80 miles per hour," says Fred Wist, chief of the Pierce County prosecutor's juvenile division.

The chase ended when Semaj crashed the 1986 Acura into a tree. The boy was returned to his mother and was charged with car theft, eluding police and driving without a valid license, Wist says.

On Monday, Semaj went to the airport. He told a ticket agent he was 12 and that his mother was in the boarding area, and the name he used matched a passenger on the flight, says Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis.

McMath, who has spoken to Semaj by phone this week, says Semaj told him that he gave an alias — a family name — when the ticket agent asked.

"She saw a name in the computer with a ticket for a 12-year-old going to Dallas. She asked, 'Is your name Franklin?' He said yes," McMath says.

Semaj boarded the flight as Frank Williams, according to a San Antonio International Airport Police Department report. So did the real Frank.

After getting a boarding pass, Semaj went to security, where adult passengers must present identification but children under 18 don't, Kudwa says.

Semaj told McMath no one asked for his name or ID but he was told to put his coat and shoes on the conveyor belt.

Semaj's flight took him to Phoenix. The same jet continued to San Antonio. His journey ended Monday afternoon when Southwest gate agents prevented him from boarding a flight to Dallas, according to the police report.

The boy initially said he was trying to get to Dallas to see a grandfather and that he could not remember his mother's phone number. It wasn't until the next morning that police determined his identity, airport spokesman David Hebert said.

McMath says Booker wants to move back to Dallas, where the family used to live.

"Her challenge is she's unemployed at this time and doesn't have the money to fly down to get him," he says.

Semaj, meanwhile, remained in Texas in juvenile detention, thinking about his first plane ride.

"He said he was scared at the takeoff and scared at the landing," McMath said.