I’ve had hundreds of international arrivals into the USA over the last couple of decades, but my arrival in Chicago O’Hare from Frankfurt was unique…someone seemed to forget that it was an international arrival!
My United Airlines Flight Had A Security Breach At Chicago O’Hare…
First, a general note. The United States does not currently have so-called “sterile” international to international transit, unlike most of the developed world. If you’re flying from Frankfurt to Mexico City via Chicago, you will need to enter the USA by passing through immigration and customs, then proceed through security and back to your gate, even if your time on the ground in Chicago is only 90 minutes and you have no intention to remain in the USA.
There are very few exceptions to this (which I will not get into here), and my flight from Frankfurt was certainly not one of them.
In 2023, Chicago O’Hare completed its remodeling and expansion of Terminal 5. The expansion added 10 new gates to T5 and, importantly for purposes of this story, a reconfigured international arrivals facility.
Depending upon which gate you land in, you now walk past departure gates (separated by glass and locked doors) on your way down to the arrivals facility staffed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Seated in row one on my flight from Frankfurt, I was one of the first off, but not the first off. About 5-6 passengers got off before I did and as we walked off the jetbridge, we found that the door to the gate area was wide open…
The passengers stopped and appeared puzzled. Do they go through that door or keep following the signs toward international arrivals? Four stepped out into the gate area.
Suddenly, the United agent who met the flight came running up, screaming, “Stop! Stop! Stop!”
The passengers did stop. She herded them back into the arrivals hall and slammed the door shut.
I witnessed the whole thing, and there was no harm and no foul…no one made a run for it…but someone certainly could have.
This was a “breach” by any definition of the word.
I didn’t wait longer to see what happened…I just proceeded to immigration, where I whisked through Global Entry and was soon on my way back to Terminal 1 by train.
All’s well that ends well?
CONCLUSION
I’d love to see an easier way for international transit in the USA, but most airports are not designed for this, and Chicago O’Hare is no exception. I’m thankful that what I witnessed was quickly contained and corrected, and I also note that the U.S. already, in a sense, pre-approves every non-citizen who enters the country before allowing them onboard a flight, but this was certainly a careless error.
Has this ever happened to you?
“Every breach you look at occurred because somebody inside did something they weren’t supposed to do. Sometimes there’s an accomplice, but most of the time, it’s innocent.”
– Frank Abagnale –
“The United States does not currently have so-called “sterile” international to international transit, unlike most of the developed world.” …yeah, and we don’t have universal healthcare …and, we do have mass shootings. *deep sigh*