Riyanna is an 18-month-old from New Jersey who was pulled off a JetBlue flight Tuesday in Fort Lauderdale because officials mistakenly said she was on the no-fly list.NEWARK — A toddler yanked off a Newark-bound flight as a security threat had been clear for takeoff, at least when crosschecked against the so-called federal “no-fly” list, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration said.
JetBlue representatives, though, nevertheless thought something was amiss and pulled 18-month-old Riyanna and her parents from Flight 510, bound from Fort Lauderdale International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport Tuesday.
“A customer’s boarding pass was flagged in our system as being on the No Fly list,” according to a statement issued by the airline this morning.
Although children traveling on an adult’s lap are not issued their own boarding passes, but instead have their name included on the adult’s boarding pass, “It was that name” – meaning Riyanna – that was flagged as potentially being on a no-fly list, said an airline spokeswoman, Tamara Young.
But a spokeswoman for the federal Transportation Security Administration, which vets passengers when they purchase airline tickets, says it “did not flag” the 18-month-old, meaning that Riyanna – whose parents declined to be identified – could fly.
Riyanna's parents are of Middle-Eastern heritage but American-born. Her mother wears a hijab, a traditional head scarf worn by some Muslim women.
TSA clears the issuance of boarding passes by an airline after a crosschecking names on a government watch list, which includes the so-called no-fly list, the agency’s spokeswoman, Lisa Farbstein, said this morning.
“TSA was called to the gate by the airline and after talking to the parents and confirming through our vetting system, TSA determined the airline had mistakenly indicated the child was on a government watch list,” Farbstein said. “Individuals on the no-fly list do not get boarding passes, and the child had a boarding pass.”
But Young, the JetBlue spokeswoman, said the airline has “redundant systems” in place that can help it identify passengers who could pose a security risk.
“When uncertainty arises, we err on the side of caution, follow protocol and do not assume,” she said.
The airline, though, has not yet said detailed what sort of name lists, if any, it has access to.
Airlines, though, do not have access to the no-fly list, the TSA said.
Related coverage:
• N.J. toddler on no-fly list was mistakenly pulled from JetBlue flight
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