After stealing his third car in a month and leading police on an 80mph chase that ended when he crashed into a tree, nine-year-old Semaj Booker went one better.

The next morning he sneaked on to a bus, conned his way on to a 1,700mile (2,750km) flight and was stopped only when he tried to talk his way on to a second aircraft. He was fleeing his gritty Seattle suburb to join his grandfather in Texas.

His adventures provoked uproar among politicians, furious that he had been able to make a mockery of American airport security, supposedly improved at a cost of billions of dollars to the inconvenience of most passengers.

But there was one approving voice: his mother. After Semaj was revealed as America’s unofficial heavyweight champion at playing truant — this was the tenth time that he had tried to run away — Sakinah Booker declared that she was proud of her son.

“He just showed me that ‘Mom, I’m going to achieve anything I want to do. I’m going to just do it.’ So he did it, from driving a car to getting on an airplane,” the single mother of four said.

Mrs Booker said that her son hated living in Lakeland, Seattle. He was scared of a sex offender who lived near by and had gone in search of a father figure.

She said that Semaj had learnt how to drive by playing video games. On Sunday, he stole a neighbour’s car after it had been left in the driveway with the engine running. The police chase that ensued ended only after he blew the engine and hit a tree. He refused to get out of the car and police had to break the window to reach him.

The next morning, Semaj was off again. This time he sneaked on to a bus for the 30-minute drive to Seattle-Tacoma airport. His plan was to reach Dallas, where his grandfather lives.

After overhearing a Southwest airlines tannoy announcement asking a passenger to go to the information desk, he assumed the passenger’s name and persuaded staff that he had lost his boarding pass. He said that his mother was waiting for him in the departure lounge.

Semaj was then flown to San Antonio, Texas, via Phoenix. But when he tried a similar ruse to board a flight to Dallas, the name he gave matched none of the passengers and the game was up.

“We spend billions of dollars inconveniencing the American public and making things safe — we think,” George Behan, a spokesman for Semaj’s local congressman, Norm Dicks, said. “Then a nine-year-old kid comes walking through.”

The federal Transportation Security Administration is investigating how Semaj managed to stroll on to the flight. Under US law, children under 16 do not need identification to board a flight, a loophole that he successfully exploited.

Semaj, who is back home, has been charged with taking a car and leading police on a chase. His mother is considering suing Southwest Airlines, although she might want to secure the house first.

Police confirmed that a sex offender was living in the area, but there had been no reports of any contact with the boy.

A spokesman for the airline said: “The young man’s information matched a paid, ticket-less reservation for the flight. Based on the information he gave us, he was issued with a boarding pass.” Leading article, page 16

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