A man waiting for a Delta Air Lines flight to Seattle bolted out of the John Wayne Airport terminal, ran onto the airfield, and stole an Alaska Airlines tug vehicle used to tow jets before crashing into another car, according to an airport spokesperson. He then tried to steal an American Airlines lavatory truck before airport police caught up with him and took him into custody.
The ordeal began around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, per the airport spokesperson, as reported by CBS Los Angeles. Police at the Orange County airport chased the man after he ran onto the airfield and stole the vehicle, and paramedics later took him to a hospital for injuries sustained in the crash. The incident caused a brief delay in airport operations before things returned to normal, the outlet reported.
A Familiar Scene on the Tarmac
This is not the first time someone has made a break for the John Wayne Airport tarmac and grabbed a vehicle meant to stay in professional hands. A separate security breach unfolded in a similar fashion in August 2021, when a man was spotted in the airfield around 5:30 p.m. and took control of an airport vehicle, driving it onto the active airfield, according to East Bay Times.
That 2021 breach delayed flights and left travelers stranded on the tarmac, the same outlet reported. The Orange County Sheriff's Department eventually tracked the man down, later identified as Johnny Hecker of San Diego, hiding in the ceiling, and took him into custody. A separate account of that episode from Simple Flying described the man hijacking an airport vehicle and going on what it called a joyride around the airport grounds before entering the terminal and hiding.
Online Reaction to the Latest Incident
Word of the latest tarmac chaos spread quickly among locals. A post on Reddit's r/orangecounty forum noted that a car was caught on video racing down a closed runway at John Wayne Airport, reflecting the kind of startled reaction the incident drew from residents tracking the situation online.
Airport officials have not detailed what prompted the man to flee the terminal and head for the tarmac, and the extent of his injuries from the crash has not been disclosed beyond the fact that paramedics transported him to a hospital. For now, operations at John Wayne Airport have returned to normal following the brief disruption.
