Florida student pilot charged with attempted plane theft

MELBOURNE, Fla. – A 22-year-old student pilot, suspected of boarding a vacant passenger plane at a central Florida airport early Thursday, was charged with a criminal attempt to steal a plane, officials said.

According to Orlando-Melbourne International Airport spokesman Lori Booker, the joint working group on terrorism is investigating and trying to determine a motive in this case. She told the media that the student pilot, whose name had not been released, is also facing a visa violation and criminal trespass charges.

Early Thursday, a man went on the pavement outside the airport, left his car running, jumped a fence and boarded an Airbus plane. 321 American Airlines in a maintenance facility, said Booker.

An avionics technician was in the kitchen of the plane when he saw a shadow, said Booker.

He turned around and said, "Who are you? Show me your badge, "said Booker to the media.She said the technician was among the airport employees, she dubbed heroes.

He caught the man and, with the help of another technician, they pulled him out of the plane. Booker said that while a technician held the man, the other called the Melbourne Airport Police. The man freed himself and ran along the airfield before the police sent him about two minutes later.

After the man's arrest, the authorities swept the airfield before reopening the airport. All employees and passengers were removed from the terminal during the incident, which caused two flight delays and disrupted airport operations for approximately five hours.

Police searched the student-driver's car with a robotic arm to ensure that no explosives were inside, said Booker. The car was then towed from the airport.

The airport returned to normal after five hours.

Booker stated that the student-pilot is from Trinidad and entered the United States by Canada. The spokeswoman said he had a driver's license in Florida but did not know if he was enrolled in a local school.

Melbourne is 112 km southeast of Orlando.

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This story corrected the age of the suspect to 22 years instead of 26 years.