Ground stop followed tarmac breach at Orange County airport
A 26-year-old man booked on a Delta flight was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft, trespassing and vandalism after he allegedly slipped out of a terminal, stole an airport tug, crashed it and tried to commandeer a second vehicle on the tarmac at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, on Tuesday night.
An airport spokesperson told KLTA-TV that the passenger, who was ticketed for a Delta Airlines flight to Seattle, instead made it out a terminal door and onto the airfield. Once on the tarmac, he allegedly stole an Alaska Airlines tug — a vehicle used to pull luggage trailers — and drove it into another vehicle. The man then allegedly tried to commandeer an American Airlines lavatory services truck before Airport Police Services caught up with him, according to the spokesperson.
Air traffic control audio captured a brief exchange between a controller and a pilot as the incident unfolded. “Hey, ground … just out of curiosity, do you know what’s going on with the vehicles behind us with all of law enforcement?” a pilot asked, according to KLTA-TV. “Yeah, it looks like someone stole a tug, a security breach at the airport … so they put a ground stop in effect,” the controller replied.
The breach triggered a temporary ground stop at the airport, halting departures while authorities responded. Plane traffic resumed after officials inspected the route the suspect had taken for any debris.
Authorities took the suspect to a hospital for evaluation. He was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft, trespassing and vandalism, according to UPI.
In a statement, Delta Airlines said: “Delta has zero tolerance for unlawful behavior, and we take all incidents seriously. Nothing is more important than the safety and security of our customers and people, and we are cooperating fully with law enforcement.”