A man hopped a fence at the Melbourne, Florida airport — and got on board an American Airlines plane. This happened around 2 a.m. These incidents never end well.
The perpetrator is a 26 year old man from Trinidad “who entered the country via Canada” and is a student pilot. He wasn’t very sneaky. Maintenance workers saw him. And then tackled him.
Reporting on the incident suggested that the aircraft was an Airbus A321, but American Airlines does not fly A321s to Melbourne, Florida. They currently operate Bombardier CR7s and CR9s to Charlotte (update: and do wifi modifications in Melbourne, but the aircraft in question still wasn’t an A321).
NEW: The @AmericanAir aircraft you see in this picture is the one a student pilot boarded unauthorized. He’s in custody now. Update ahead at 8 on @cw18tv. @WESH pic.twitter.com/9UkM1nEtpN
— Hadas Brown (@HadasBrownWESH) September 20, 2018
Law enforcement “used a robot” to search the man’s car. The airport was evacuated. And flights were grounded until the airport re-opened a little before 7 a.m. (since this is Melbourne, Florida, that appears to mean a total of two flights were delayed).
Melbourne International Airport is closed until further notice due to police activity. ALL flights suspended at this time. Please avoid the area and we will update you with more information. @MelbourneFL
— Melbourne Police (@MelbournePolice) September 20, 2018
They used the time to sweep the airfield, though nothing dangerous was found.
Seeing @MelbournePolice CSI outside the terminal, and a red car about to be towed. @WESH pic.twitter.com/5LUHxGKbIB
— Hadas Brown (@HadasBrownWESH) September 20, 2018
This is at least the third plane — and the second one of American’s — the someone has tried to steal in the past two months.
Incidents like this almost always wind up with the person stealing a plane caught, or dead. What is it about trying to steal small planes, too? If you’re going to try something like this, at least go for a big jet and make it worth it.
There seems to be something about American Airlines planes, too. For instance this former American Airlines 727 is still missing after 15 years.
The aircraft was parked in the hanger nose-in. That Airbus does not have reverse. It could not have been “stolen” without an experienced tug driver accomplice.
I wish he would have tried to steal one with those mini lavatories. I’m sure The maintenance Crew would have helped him!
The underlying elephant in the room is security FAIL. How is it that people can still “jump” a fence at an airport?
“If you’re going to try something like this, at least go for a big jet and make it worth it.” Agreed. Make it count.