Plane Stupid

I must admit, there have been times that I've had one one of those "Calgon, take me away" moments and fantasized about hopping the next flight to anywhere that doesn't involve me cooking dinner, driving carpool or changing diapers. But in reality, I would never skip town without warning. For one, my family needs me. Two, it would be completely irresponsible, not to mention, expensive. And three, flying off at a moments notice is just not the way I do things these days.

It seems that a group of teenagers in Florida didn't exactly share my sensibilities this week when they used babysitting money to fly to Nashville alone. Never mind that their ages were 15, 13 and 11 and their parents had no idea they were planning this little excursion. What is really amazing is that they were able to do it without any flack from the airline (Southwest), which didn't bat an eyelash when the trio paid cash for their tickets and weren't made to show identification in order to board the plane.

Apparently, kids who are under 18 are not required to show ID by the Transportation Safety Administration. And Southwest Airlines policy is that kids ages 12-17 are free to fly without adult supervision. In fact, it turns out most public transportation companies wouldn't think twice about selling tickets to children considered minors under the law. For example, kids as young as 8 years-old can ride without an adult on Greyhound Bus. And those younger than 8 are considered a-ok as long as they are traveling with someone who is at least 15 years of age.

Since most 15 year-olds don't have driver's licenses, I'd love to know how the bus company verifies their age. Teens who are at least 15 are also free to take Amtrak without an adult companion.

Some people might read this story and think, "Who cares?" Perhaps they feel that the parents should keep their kids on a shorter leash so that things like this won't happen in the first place. But to me, the fact that these kids managed to take this impromptu trip unbeknownst to anyone else isn't really what scares me the most.

What frightens me is that this is yet another loophole in our transportation system that is just waiting to be exploited by people who would seek to inflict harm on America like those who perpetrated 9-11. In certain foreign countries, it's common practice to recruit young people to carry out the dirty work planned by adults behind the scenes. Many terrorists prey on the naivete and vulnerability of disenfranchised youth, and this is yet another scenario that could very well have deadly consequences. What's to stop them from planning a mass attack on various transit systems by using kids who can theoretically slip under the radar because they aren't required to show identification?

In the case of the kids from Florida, they landed in Nashville, realized they didn't have enough money left to reach their destination of Dollywood (my, what lofty aspirations they had!) and called their parents. Southwest Airlines then refunded their money (an odd move if they stick to the line that the company did nothing wrong in the first place) and sent them home to mom and dad.

This time, the hijinx were completely harmless. Let's hope some clever copycat with more nefarious notions doesn't get the same idea.