Another Airport Intrusion | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-09.23.24

Airborne-NextGen-10.01.24

Airborne-Unlimited-10.02.24

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-10.03.24

Airborne-Unlimited-09.27.24

Thu, May 29, 2003

Another Airport Intrusion

Pittsburgh Security Chief "Extremely Upset"

For the second time this year, someone apparently walked through the security phalanx at an airport inside the US, found an unlocked aircraft and climbed on board for the night. September 11th or not, someone's asleep at the switch.

It happened over the weekend at Pittsburgh (PA) International Airport (above). Authorities there say 21-year old Louis Esquivel of San Antonio was found by a flight attendant curled up in one of the passenger seats aboard an American Eagle regional jet. He'd apparently been there overnight.

"It raised tremendous alarms for me and, obviously, I'm extremely upset about it," TSA Pittsburgh Chief Robert Blose told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

How'd He Do That?

Esquivel, described by authorities as a paranoid-schizophrenic, was supposed to board a Pittsburgh-San Antonio (TX) flight to be met by relatives in Texas. When he didn't get off the aircraft, his family filed a missing person's report. Back in Pittsburgh, Esquivel, who's now being held on $25,000 bond, told police he walked behind a closed ticket counter, then crawled through the baggage conveyor system to make it out onto the ramp.

Can you do that? "We are putting our people through it to see if it can be done,'' said Ken Fulton, head of the Allegheny County (PA) police.

But that's not the whole story. Police said Esquivel walked across the ramp to a parked van, opened the door, found the keys to the ignition and drove across the airport. Police say he drove up to a gate and boarded the RJ. Blose told the Pittsburgh newspaper surveillance video confirms at least some of the young man's story. The rest is still being checked out.

In January, a mechanic at the Tampa-St. Petersburg (FL) airport noticed a man walking up a portable stairway and onto an unoccupied Boeing 737 in the wee hours of the morning. The man was arrested after the mechanic reported him to airport police.

FMI: www.pitairport.com

Advertisement

More News

ANN FAQ: Turn On Post Notifications

Make Sure You NEVER Miss A New Story From Aero-News Network Do you ever feel like you never see posts from a certain person or page on Facebook or Instagram? Here’s how you c>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (10.04.24)

“I can hear the desperation in her voice. This is multiple phone calls I’ve received like this. Voicemails, text messages and you could hear people desperate for help..>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (10.04.24): Instrument Departure Procedure (DP) Charts

Instrument Departure Procedure (DP) Charts Designed to expedite clearance delivery and to facilitate transition between takeoff and en route operations. Each DP is presented as a s>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (10.04.24)

Aero Linx: Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum Transport yourself to a different time and place. Our exhibits allow you to get up close and personal with historic aircraf>[...]

Airborne Affordable Flyers 10.03.24: RV15 Update!, Zenith Homecoming, Trio STCs

Also: World Ultralight Fly-In, Pipistrel Velis, EAA Touts Larsen, Aero-TV: Keeping the Helicycle Legacy Alive Flight testing of the new Van’s Aircraft RV-15 engineering proto>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC