Man arrested after scaling airport fence, removing clothes and climbing on plane wing

Trespasser ‘appeared intoxicated’, said local police

Planes at Chicago’s Midway International Airport (Getty Images)

A US man has been arrested for climbing over an airport fence, allegedly taking off all of his clothes and climbing on the wing of a plane.

Javier Martinez, 33, of Chicago, Illinois, was charged with one felony count of criminal trespassing after the incident, which occurred on Tuesday at Midway International Airport.

Outlining the charges, local police said Mr Martinez was arrested at 4.30pm on 29 March, adding that "moments earlier, [he had] unlawfully gained entry to the airfield by climbing a security fence.

“The offender then climbed onto an aircraft that was preparing to take flight.”

A police spokesperson told local press that the man appeared intoxicated before climbing the barbed wire fence, and that he had removed some of his clothes before climbing the aircraft wing.

Audio from Air Traffic Control recorded one controller saying: “He’s out here in front of the jet, looks like he’s trying to get in.”

The Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) told Newsweek: “The response by CPD and airport security was swift, and the impact to airport operations was minimal.”

There are strict laws all over the world to prevent passengers trespassing on an airport’s airfield.

In May, a man was filmed on security cameras dressing as a maintenance worker before entering the airfield at Los Angeles International Airport.

The same month, a man was accused of breaking into a plane’s cockpit at Albany International Airport in New York state.

Meanwhile, in December, a woman reportedly experiencing mental health problems was detained after running out of the terminal onto the airfield at LAX and “attempting to flag down a plane”.

Passengers who circumvent or tamper with security at US airports can expect to receive a civil fine of anywhere between $690 (£525) and $4,170 (£3,176), according to the TSA.