This happened earlier today at Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl (currently the 7th largest airport in the US). There are some links to good video shots at the bottom...
Airport officials reviewing safety standards
Jack Gillum
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 30, 2005 06:21 PM
Sky Harbor officials are reviewing safety standards after a driver crashed through a wrought-iron fence and sped past airliners Thursday morning, the second time in two years a vehicle has breached airport security.
The review comes after 28-year-old Damian Holmes led police onto a taxiway, causing brief delays at the start of a busy July 4 air-travel season.
In a meeting with reporters Thursday afternoon, Phoenix Aviation Director David Krietor said the stolen pickup truck, which caused Federal Aviation Administration officials to briefly halt airport operations, presented no danger to passengers. But video footage shows the late-model Nissan Titan speeding past several aircraft, which had been stopped after the FAA grounded traffic for about 10 minutes. The fence had been previously replaced from airport security improvements.
Krietor says that the airport has spent an "extraordinary amount of money" in upgrading airport security since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Officials say about $100 million was earmarked over the next 10 years for security improvements.
In those capital improvement funds, Sky Harbor officials planned to improve fencing standards, such as raising older, 6-foot-tall barriers to 8 feet and affixing barbed wire to those fences, said Deborah Ostreicher, an airport spokeswoman.
And while improvements called for many already installed concrete ballards, there were no such barriers where Holmes entered the airfield near fire station No. 19.
In November 2003, two men were arrested after stealing a car and leading officers on a chase into Terminal 3. At the time, airport authorities said security worked well but were evaluating whether a chain-link fence - the most required by federal Transportation Security Administration standards - was adequate.
Police say Thursday's incident began after Holmes stole the vehicle at a convenience store near 7th Street and Thunderbird Road about 7:45 a.m. Officers responding to a subsequent 911 call spotted the vehicle but soon stopped the chase because no violent crime had been committed, said police spokesman Sgt. Randy Force, citing departmental policy.
Holmes drove to Sky Harbor and circled the streets outside the airport several times, Force said. He then drove through a fence after a brief standoff with officers shortly after 9 a.m. just south of Terminal 3. The pickup then sped down a taxiway, passing between six or seven commercial aircraft, authorities said.
The chase ended when the truck crashed through a chain-link fence just west of Terminal 2. Police fired several rounds at Holmes when he entered the airfield and after he crashed through the fence near Copperhead and Buckeye roads on the airport's west side.
Officer Dwain Pickens, a 16-year veteran of Phoenix police, was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital after his motorcycle was knocked over.
http://www.kpho.com/Global/story.asp?S=3541908&nav=23KtbdtU
see part 2 for the "good" stuff
http://www.knxv.com/news/index.asp?did=19642
Airport officials reviewing safety standards
Jack Gillum
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 30, 2005 06:21 PM
Sky Harbor officials are reviewing safety standards after a driver crashed through a wrought-iron fence and sped past airliners Thursday morning, the second time in two years a vehicle has breached airport security.
The review comes after 28-year-old Damian Holmes led police onto a taxiway, causing brief delays at the start of a busy July 4 air-travel season.
In a meeting with reporters Thursday afternoon, Phoenix Aviation Director David Krietor said the stolen pickup truck, which caused Federal Aviation Administration officials to briefly halt airport operations, presented no danger to passengers. But video footage shows the late-model Nissan Titan speeding past several aircraft, which had been stopped after the FAA grounded traffic for about 10 minutes. The fence had been previously replaced from airport security improvements.
Krietor says that the airport has spent an "extraordinary amount of money" in upgrading airport security since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Officials say about $100 million was earmarked over the next 10 years for security improvements.
In those capital improvement funds, Sky Harbor officials planned to improve fencing standards, such as raising older, 6-foot-tall barriers to 8 feet and affixing barbed wire to those fences, said Deborah Ostreicher, an airport spokeswoman.
And while improvements called for many already installed concrete ballards, there were no such barriers where Holmes entered the airfield near fire station No. 19.
In November 2003, two men were arrested after stealing a car and leading officers on a chase into Terminal 3. At the time, airport authorities said security worked well but were evaluating whether a chain-link fence - the most required by federal Transportation Security Administration standards - was adequate.
Police say Thursday's incident began after Holmes stole the vehicle at a convenience store near 7th Street and Thunderbird Road about 7:45 a.m. Officers responding to a subsequent 911 call spotted the vehicle but soon stopped the chase because no violent crime had been committed, said police spokesman Sgt. Randy Force, citing departmental policy.
Holmes drove to Sky Harbor and circled the streets outside the airport several times, Force said. He then drove through a fence after a brief standoff with officers shortly after 9 a.m. just south of Terminal 3. The pickup then sped down a taxiway, passing between six or seven commercial aircraft, authorities said.
The chase ended when the truck crashed through a chain-link fence just west of Terminal 2. Police fired several rounds at Holmes when he entered the airfield and after he crashed through the fence near Copperhead and Buckeye roads on the airport's west side.
Officer Dwain Pickens, a 16-year veteran of Phoenix police, was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital after his motorcycle was knocked over.
http://www.kpho.com/Global/story.asp?S=3541908&nav=23KtbdtU
see part 2 for the "good" stuff
http://www.knxv.com/news/index.asp?did=19642