Passenger Claims 4 Passports Were Stolen While Boarding United Flight

The passports of a family of four aboard a United Airlines flight were allegedly stolen just before take-off while the dad was "standing right there."

New Jersey-based Ali Blount, 34, who works in digital marketing, told Newsweek that she and her husband, a 33-year-old software engineer, and their two kids (a 1-year-old and 3-year-old) were "minutes away from leaving on their dream trip" to Athens, Greece. They were asked to disembark the plane after their passports could not be found.

Blount, who has filed a report with the police, said all four passports, which were kept in a family wallet, were "unquestionably stolen."

The latest incident comes as air travel returns to pre-pandemic levels. Total passenger traffic globally is "now at 84.2 percent of January 2019 levels," according to a March 2023 report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Stolen passports are among the common types of passport fraud. The U.S. Department of State says: "The U.S. passport is considered to be the most valuable identity document in the world... people who attempt to obtain a U.S. passport illegally, or use stolen and altered passports, often seek to change their identities and conceal their illegal activities and movements."

The aftermath of the incident was captured in a viral video shared by TikTok user @lindsaybrookethomas. She was another passenger aboard the flight that departed from Newark Liberty International Airport. The footage showed a Port Authority police officer speaking to flight staff on the plane.

A spokesperson for United told Newsweek: "After the Blount family made us aware of their missing passports, our crew and other customers immediately began searching the aircraft. We contacted the Port Authority Police Department, who continued the search but was unable to locate them. "

The mom said a United staff member "reviewed the security footage on the jetway that showed the case in my husband's hand as we boarded—and no one had exited the aircraft—so it was unequivocally [stolen] on the plane."

Passports Go Missing During the 'Chaos of Boarding'

After boarding the plane, Blount took their daughter to the bathroom to change her diaper, while her husband, who held the passport case, helped their son into the child seat.

Her husband "put the [passport] case down on his seat for a second to free up his hands while putting our son in his car seat, and then it was gone."

Ali Blount said: "Someone took it while he was standing right there, taking advantage of the chaos of boarding and him helping a young child.

"It happened during boarding... so many people walked by us on the way to their seats and could have easily swiped the case while walking by," the mom added.

Blount said the airline made a few announcements asking passengers if they had seen any passports. The couple searched their luggage and the entire section of the area in which they were seated multiple times but couldn't find the passport case. "It's fairly sizable—like a large women's wallet—with a colorful pattern, so there's no way it was just overlooked or lodged somewhere," she added.

Blount said that, after around 30 minutes of their search, an officer from the Port Authority Police Department was called to the scene, "who I believe searched our area one final time." The mom said the family was "kicked off the plane at that point."

The passports were later found on the plane mid-flight, according to the aforementioned viral video. A voice in the clip said that "in the middle of the night, when they turn the lights off on the plane, somebody dropped them in the aisle by the bathroom."

Blount said they learned that the passports had been turned in "as soon as the plane landed" because "I gave my cell phone number to a neighbor on the plane who was especially nice during our search."

A United spokesperson said: "We've worked with the family to reschedule their trip and reunite them with their passports after they were found onboard."

Blount said they still don't know "what happened on the flight." However, she added that "all we know for sure is what it said on the envelope the passports were placed in" when the couple went to pick up the passports at Newark airport on June 11.

In an image of the United envelope shared with Newsweek, a message on the envelope read: "Passengers were removed in Newark due to loss of passports. Passports found on top of AFT-MID Galley mid-flight."

The returned passports could not be used as they had been reported as stolen and canceled by this time and the couple had already requested new ones. The family had to rebook their trip for September, paying an extra $1,955 extra overall, including the cost of new expedited passports, according to Blount.

United 'Followed Protocol' but 'Weren't Especially Nice or Sympathetic'

Blount said she received a call on June 15 from the "helpful" United customer service supervisor they'd been working with, who called to check in on them. She added that the airline "followed protocol as best they could" but "what happened wasn't amazing from a customer-service standpoint."

The mom said that "some of the United staff, as the incident was happening, weren't especially nice or sympathetic... I would have been much gentler."

Blount added that the family was asked to disembark the plane "quite early on" in their search for the passports.

She said: "United staff was far more concerned with getting us off the plane—rather rudely, I might add—than dealing with a crime that had been committed on their aircraft. I believe this also put everyone else on the flight at risk. If I were a bystander, I would have been panicked about being in an enclosed space for an extended period with someone who had just committed a crime."

Blount said that she initially had to "proactively call United about half a day after the flight landed," as she still hadn't been notified that the passports were found. "Had we known the passports were found right away, we wouldn't have canceled them, and we could have boarded the next flight out," Blount added.

The mom said: "We've lost a lot of money and time from this (we did nothing but try to get emergency passports for days), and we both [the couple] have some serious anxiety issues now."

Newsweek has emailed the Port Authority Police Department for comment. We also contacted @lindsaybrookethomas, the original poster of the viral video, for comment via TikTok and email.

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