Man Misses Flight, Attempts Breaking Into Plane On Tarmac, Gets Arrested

In a major security breach, a man stormed into the tarmac and tried to break his way onto a Jetstar plane at the Melbourne Airport in Australia on Thursday. The man was supposed to catch a 9.30 am flight to Adelaide but arrived at the airport several hours late.

A video, captured by a passenger on the plane, showed the man running up the stairs and trying to break open the door. After several failed attempts, he started to bash the door with his feet. He then started smoking inside the airport terminal and ran to the nearest gate. The man appeared very aggressive and physical and in the process, injured several baggage handlers, reports said.

The flight was not damaged but was delayed for almost two hours as engineers examined the aircraft.

Susannah, a witness, told 9News that as the passengers were sitting waiting to get on the flight, some people shouted "Oh my god."

“Someone was running on the tarmac. He was trying to get up the stairs, he was physically fighting with the staff, punching and scratching them,” she said. “The man was initially restrained by staff when he was halfway up the steps. He then somehow managed to free himself and reached the door of the plane."

"It absolutely was scary, in this day in age everyone is nervous when they fly, especially with everything going on overseas," added Sushannah.

The federal police showed up a few minutes later and took him out. Australian Federal Police (AFP) has taken the man into custody and charges are yet to be laid.

"We praise our crew for safely handling this incident and restraining the passenger until police arrived. This behaviour is unacceptable and we have placed an immediate ban on this passenger travelling on all Jetstar and Qantas flights,” Jetstar said in a statement.

Two of the employees were left with physical injuries in the incident and were replaced.

"One of the employees came out with a wad of bandages and padding on his neck, he was the one being the assaulted the most," the witness added.

In a similar incident in October last year, police used stun guns to detain a man who attempted to storm into a flight at Melbourne Airport. The man was arrested later by AFP at terminal 2. According to a report in The Age, the man crawled into the baggage area and into a security zone. He then ran into the tarmac.