Narrative:

My a-flight attendant brought to my attention that a passenger had deplaned after boarding and was concerned why the passenger had deplaned. He asked me to bring it to the attention of the ops agent. When the ops agent came to the flight deck; I inquired about the passenger who had deplaned. He told me it was the mother of an unaccompanied minor and a young traveler. She had asked the agent if she could escort them to their seats. The mother had a security document and had processed through the tsa checkpoint with her two children. The a-flight attendant believed this was irregular; but if I was satisfied with the explanation; so was he. We secured the forward entry door and departed. No issue was brought up to my attention by the other fas. At cruise (about an hour and 15 into the flight) the c-flight attendant entered the cabin and told me she was uncomfortable with the mother boarding her two children and felt it was a security issue. I informed her if she believed it was a security issue and was uncomfortable with the explanation provided at the gate; she should have raised her concern to either the lead a-flight attendant or me back at the gate before we departed. Both the a flight attendant and I were satisfied with the explanation provided by our ops agent and did not feel we had a security issue. If a flight attendant feels that the lead flight attendant is not communicating their concerns to the captain; he/she should take action at the moment and inform the captain directly.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier crew reported concern over a potential security risk when an individual was allowed to escort children on board the aircraft then leave the aircraft.

Narrative: My A-Flight Attendant brought to my attention that a passenger had deplaned after boarding and was concerned why the passenger had deplaned. He asked me to bring it to the attention of the Ops Agent. When the Ops Agent came to the flight deck; I inquired about the passenger who had deplaned. He told me it was the mother of an unaccompanied minor and a young traveler. She had asked the Agent if she could escort them to their seats. The mother had a security document and had processed through the TSA checkpoint with her two children. The A-Flight Attendant believed this was irregular; but if I was satisfied with the explanation; so was he. We secured the forward entry door and departed. No issue was brought up to my attention by the other FAs. At cruise (about an hour and 15 into the flight) the C-Flight Attendant entered the cabin and told me she was uncomfortable with the mother boarding her two children and felt it was a security issue. I informed her if she believed it was a security issue and was uncomfortable with the explanation provided at the gate; she should have raised her concern to either the lead A-Flight Attendant or me back at the gate before we departed. Both the A Flight Attendant and I were satisfied with the explanation provided by our Ops Agent and did not feel we had a security issue. If a flight attendant feels that the Lead FA is not communicating their concerns to the Captain; he/she should take action at the moment and inform the Captain directly.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.