New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport experienced a security breach Tuesday morning when a woman drove her car across active airport runways.
The 32-year-old woman drove through an open security gate and evaded security’s attempts to stop her before driving across two runways at the airport, ABC7 NY reported Tuesday.
The incident took place at approximately 9:35 a.m. The woman breached Guard Post D off Industrial Avenue in a black Honda Civic. She followed another vehicle that was authorized to drive through the gate, and passed through before guards could stop her.
Although the runways were active, officials say no planes were on them when the incident occurred.
Port Authority police responded immediately and pursued the woman as she drove across the runways. The woman stopped outside the nearby Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum, where she got out of her car and fled into an adjacent wooded area.
A statement from the Port Authority said:
This morning’s breach at Teterboro Airport was the result of a woman in an unauthorized vehicle tailgating an authorized vehicle through a security gate before the guard could stop the unauthorized vehicle. The incident is being investigated to determine how to best prevent a recurrence. The airport guard immediately notified Port Authority Police and operational staff of the incident, and a pursuit began. There were no planes on the runways at the time her vehicle crossed the airstrips. Charges are pending against the 32-year-old suspect, who abandoned the vehicle and fled the airport on foot, before being apprehended in the town of Moonachie.
Police later found her at a Jackson Place home in Moonachie near the airport.
Police said the woman suffered various injuries to her limbs, including cuts and abrasions believed to be inflicted when the woman scaled a barbed wire fence near the wooded area surrounding the airport.
Teterboro Airport security breached as woman drives car across 2 runways https://t.co/HHB8ByZ9m7 pic.twitter.com/hihlGWapm3
— NJ.com (@njdotcom) September 18, 2018
She was arrested and taken to the Newark Airport PAPD Police Station where she was held for questioning.
Officials said the woman had no identification on her person and used fingerprints to discover her identity.
Authorities said she had a history of drunk driving, NJ.com reported.
No delays were reported by Teterboro Airport or the FAA as of Tuesday afternoon. Flight operations resumed as normal.
