by Stacy Jackson
November 17, 2023
The pilot shut the plane’s engine down and the woman who ran on the tarmac was arrested by the Australian Federal Police.
A woman ran out onto the tarmac at Canberra Airport in Australia, attempting to wave down a pilot so she would not miss her flight.
The woman, who has not been identified, was arrested on Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. by the Australian Federal Police, according to Business Insider. She was charged with entering an airside area or security zone without permission, damaging property, and possession of a small quantity of cannabis, a spokesperson of the AFP said according to the outlet. The woman was also refused bail. According to the outlet, police said she was scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 3.
A passenger on the plane and witness said the entire thing was bizarre. According to 9 News, the Australian outlet that broke the story, a passenger named Simon Hales said, “She’s trying to yell at the pilot, she’s trying to get his attention and jump up, it was bizarre.”
According to the news outlet, Hales had more to say about the incident on Facebook.
A post read, “A lady who had missed her flight clearly thought she could still catch it.”
It continued, saying that the woman “pushed past the staff at the door, ran down onto the tarmac and ran up to the plane. Luckily the pilot was warned or spotted her and killed the engine.”
Another person who recorded a video of the incident was surprised that staff at the airport did not stop the woman from running onto the tarmac.
Dennis Bilic told 9 News, “People were a bit flat-footed, they didn’t seem to know what to do, that was the weird part. (We were thinking) ‘Is anyone gonna stop her?’”
The Australian outlet noted that the flight to Adelaide was delayed by 10 minutes before things returned to normal.
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