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A man boarded a flight at Heathrow without a ticket, boarding pass or passport in a major security breach.
The unnamed individual walked onto the 7.20am British Airways flight to Oslo, Norway on Saturday, by tailgating other passengers and evading checks at the departure gate.
Aviation experts have described the incident as a “significant lapse in security”.
Cabin crew only detected the intruder because the plane was full and he kept sitting in other passenger’s seats, witnesses claim.
According to airport sources, the man was arrested, despite his insistence he had passed through “full security screening” before reaching the gate.
It is understood the man pretended to be with a family who passed through the final passport check at the gate before boarding the flight.
Mike La Corte, who was aboard the BA flight BA768 told The Telegraph the interloper was a white man who appeared to be in his late 20s or early 30s.
Sources say the man had tailgated his way through to security screening and passed security, meaning he was not detected carrying any banned items.
The man deceived the BA check-in agent by posing as a family member who had their passports and boarding passes inspected in the usual way.
When the man was arrested, armed police scanned the seats where the man had been removed, as well as the overhead storage.
Philip Baum, a professor of aviation security at Coventry University said the incident demonstrated a “significant lapse in security and in the verification of each passenger and their right to be boarding an aircraft.”
“There are measures on board the aircraft that obviously prevent the person reaching the flight deck. But every airline should be able to account 100 per cent for every passenger and every person that is on board that aircraft.”
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British Airways and Heathrow Airport have been contacted for comment.