How difficult is it to board a plane with a stolen passport? Not as hard as you might think.
In any major international airport, it’s not uncommon to have your passport checked four times or more between check-in and boarding the aircraft. But if passenger documents aren’t checked against Interpol’s database of stolen and lost travel documents, travelers using those documents can slip through layers of security.
Reports that two passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 were traveling on stolen Austrian and Italian passports have highlighted security concerns that have troubled Interpol for years, the international law enforcement agency said Sunday. The flight, carrying more than 200 passengers, disappeared from radar Saturday and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.