British Boy Liam Corcoran Sneaks Onto Flight, Winds Up In Rome

A British boy’s mischief at Manchester Airport has resulted in an investigation after the crafty pre-teen was able to fly to Rome and take off without ever having checked in or even possessing a ticket.

The 11-year-old British boy that flew to Rome, Liam Corcoran, is the mischievous child at the center of the investigation, and Corcoran took a leaf from basically every slapstick film in how to board a plane without documentation. Possessing not a passport, boarding pass, ticket or hand luggage, the enterprising yet very, very naughty boy tagged along with another harried family, sticking close by and sneaking on to Jet2.com flight LS791 bound for Rome from Manchester.

According to Business Insider, Corcoran wasn’t even at the airport with his family — he snuck away from his mum while shopping nearby, and apparently had designs on running away in a very dramatic fashion when the boy flew to Rome unnoticed by cabin crew:

“Liam Corcoran had apparently run away from his mother while she was shopping at the Wythenshawe civic centre, close to the airport, on Tuesday and had been reported missing. He made his way to the airport, probably on foot…”

The site continues:

“When he arrived at terminal one, he followed another family, going unnoticed with thousands of people heading off on their summer holidays. Security staff scanned him but failed to realise he was on his own and had no boarding card, passport, tickets or money.”

Corcoran even took a seat, and evaded notice despite not having a boarding card. Cabin crew did a headcount, but the discrepancy was not noticed, and the boy flew to Rome almost scot-free. It wasn’t until the plane was in-flight that fellow passengers became suspicious — after Liam told them he was running away from home.

The passengers alerted crew, who radioed back to Manchester and notified them that the missing boy was on their plane. He was returned to Manchester, and interviewed by police after meeting his mother at the airport back in England.

Five employees of Jet2.com have been suspended as the situation is investigated.