Police chase LAX intruder's car across two busy runways after major security breach
In a major security breach at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Thursday, a driver crashed his speeding car through a gate and led police on a chase over two runways while planes were landing and taking off, CBS Los Angeles reports.
Sources tell the station the incident, which occurred around 6 p.m., may be the worst security breach at a U.S. airport in a decade.
Police say the male driver of a gray Mazda hatchback, with the letters "SOS" written on the hood, turned off a local highway on the south side of the airport and headed straight for the gate at the FedEx warehouse.
After crashing through a chain-link gate, the driver sped past a line of FedEx jumbo-jets parked on the tarmac, then sped across two runways. He then made a U-turn and crossed them again.
On busy days, those runways have aircraft landing or taking off approximately every minute.
The pursuit came close to several bustling loading and airport unloading areas, though there were no collisions or injuries reported.
Police chased the suspect to Atlantic Aviation, a private terminal for charter planes. They were able to surround him and his hatchback with more than a dozen police cruisers and arrest him.
FedEx hasn't commented yet about the incident, though the company has already erected a new fence and placed security guards in front of the tarmac.
