Strollerderby

Kid Flies Across Country And No One Notices

Posted by JeanneSager

If it sounds like a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan flick that's popular on date night, you're not far off. A boy used his father's credit card, hopped a plane and was across the country before anyone had missed him.

Only this kid wasn't looking for a lady love for dad. And he went in the opposite direction (East Coast to West rather than Seattle to New York). Oh yeah, and this wasn't a movie. 

The thirteen-year-old was a real live boy who stole Dad's car during the night (while he was sleeping), drove thirty miles to an airport and THEN boarded a plane for parts unknown. 

Kenton Weaver flew from Florida, where he lives with his father, to California, where his mother lives. But no one one the flight said a word. It wasn't until Weaver was at a ticket counter in California that the boy (who reportedly falls somewhere on the autism spectrum - making this all the more incredible) was found by some sort of authority.

His mom, Kim Casey, says Kenton is extremely bright but his Asperger's means he lacks common sense and inhibitions that would probably have kept other kids from pulling off this kind of feat. But that's another reason the boy's father, Dale Weaver, is shocked no one noticed a thirteen-year-old on a cross-continental flight. Not only did he not have ID, but Dale said his son can be a handful. 

Kenton is OK - that's the best part of this story. And apparently has dreams of being a pilot, so a ride in an airplane was probably the highlight of his day, week, month. . . 

But how does this make you feel about so-called airport security? Are they so focused on making us take our shoes off and trashing our tweezers that they're missing the big picture? Like thirteen-year-old kids with no ID getting on planes alone?

Image: eFitness

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Comments

 

Jenni said:

Having worked in the aviation industry for a long time, I can tell you that minors do not need ID's to fly. Unaccompanied minors fly all of the time, and though the airlines offer to watch over these kids (for a fee), it doesn't always happen.

May 1, 2009 9:35 AM
 

leahsmom said:

I didn't realize minors don't need ID to fly - why is that? I'd be curious about the rationale.

May 1, 2009 3:09 PM
 

elohveeee12 said:

How many minors do you know with ID? I have never heard of anyone under 16 having a valid ID (unless they had already been out of the country, in which case they had a passport, not an ID).

May 1, 2009 5:02 PM
 

MommyControl said:

Children don't need an ID to fly, this is true, but why didn't anyone ask questions; where are you going, why are you flying alone, etc.?  This makes me very nervous.  Did he buy the tickets at the ticket counter?  If so, they should have questioned it then.  No parent/guardian to see him off, wouldn't that make you ask questions.  I don't know I feel someone show have sensed something or questioned something.

May 5, 2009 9:46 PM

About JeanneSager

Jeanne Sager is a writer who lives in upstate New York with her husband, daughter, a dog and too many cats. She refuses to believe motherhood comes with pumpkin appliqued sweaters, and she';s not ready to apologize for having only one child. She writes about raising her kid in her own hometown and the mom stuff she's not embarrassed to own at her blog, Inside Out (http://jeannesager.blogspot.com), she's contributing editor of Grand Magazine, and she's a regular essayist here on Babble

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