Man breaches airport fence, crashes truck into Southwest Airlines plane

Tuesday, 26 Aug, 2016 0

A major security breach took place at a Nebraska airport late Thursday, causing the delay of a Southwest Airlines flight, after a jet was damaged.

A man breached the perimeter fence at Eppley International Airport in Omaha, stole a pickup truck on the runway and then slammed the vehicle into a Southwest Airlines plane which was prepping for take-off.

"Several crew members suffered minor injuries while none of the 18 passengers on board were harmed," said Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz.

The flight was delayed while the aircraft was taken out of service for inspection.

Mainz said the man is in police custody and the flight to Denver was delayed by approximately three hours.

Police are still investigating and have so far not indicated a motive for the bizarre incident.

However according to NBC News, Tim Conahan, chief of police at the Omaha Airport Authority, said the man’s erratic behavior indicated ‘some type of drug overdose or that he has mental issues.’

Conahan said the suspect had stripped down to his boxer shorts and muttered that ‘someone was trying to kill him.’

TravelMole Editorial Team

Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.

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