On Wednesday March 25 at about 4:25 p.m., a blue Ford Mustang crashed through a locked perimeter gate at Daytona Beach International Airport’s international terminal. It’s a commercial airport, and Embry‑Riddle’s Daytona flight school operates 51 weeks a year with 900+ flight students, 120+ instructors, a 60+ aircraft.
- The car got onto an active taxiway and through an active runway, nearly striking an Embry‑Riddle aircraft that was taxiing.
- The driver then tried to get into an occupied, running airplane. He failed because it was locked, and then moved toward unoccupied training aircraft on the Embry‑Riddle flight ramp. He was stopped by airport operations staff and Embry‑Riddle security.
- An airport operations technician physically pulled him out of the plane and sat him on a truck tailgate – but the man jumped off and ran toward another aircraft before being caught again.
This afternoon, around 4:23 p.m., a vehicle drove through a gate at the international terminal of Daytona Beach International Airport and proceeded onto the airfield.
The driver, an adult male who was highly intoxicated, approached an occupied, running airplane and attempted to…
— Volusia Sheriff (@VolusiaSheriff) March 25, 2026
Man drives Mustang onto the taxiway at Daytona Beach International Airport and tries to hijack an Embry-Riddle aircraft 3/25. pic.twitter.com/y1yfeswVzj
— Turbine Traveller (@Turbinetraveler) March 26, 2026
The perpetrator told deputies he was intoxicated by alcohol and drugs and did not remember what led to the incident.
It seems that the human response worked, even if it took a few attempts. The airport’s perimeter design and breach detection layers did not. And while this doesn’t happen every day, it is also not unusual! Here a man stole an SUV, crashes it into the airport, all in an attempt to escape the zombie apocalypse. Another man tried to hijack a plane by jumping on its wing after using a stolen van to get onto the airport. And you can watch as police swarm a van that crashed through an airport fence and drove onto the runway.
Florida, man.
Read Headline.
Me: Please, don’t be in Florida. Please, don’t be in Florida.
Read the story.
Me: Damn.
A judge will allow no or little bail and he probably won’t spend a day in jail. Apparently, we’ve come to a place where we think sending to criminals to prison isn’t a solution. Just coddle them.
@Denver Refugee, @Thing 1 — Beat meat to it!
Oof. *me