ORLANDO, Fla. _ Orlando Melbourne International Airport has reopened after it closed for about five hours Thursday morning, because a student pilot boarded a passenger plane in the airfield's maintenance facility, a spokeswoman said.
The 26-year-old suspect was arrested, airport spokeswoman Lori Booker said.
The incident started at about 2 a.m. when the suspect drove to the curb outside the airport and left his car running, spokeswoman Lori Booker said. He hopped a fence and boarded a vacant Airbus A321 aircraft belonging to American Airlines, Booker said.
A maintenance worker saw the suspect and alerted airport police, who apprehended him within a couple of minutes, Booker said.
Booker said the suspect was born in Trinidad and entered the United States through Canada. She said the man has a Florida driver's license and was a student pilot, but she did not know whether he was enrolled in school currently or in the past.
Police towed the man's car after a robotic arm searched it for any explosives, Booker said. Police, the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are involved in the investigation, she said.
The suspect was taken to the Brevard County Jail. His identity has not been revealed.
All airport employees and passengers were removed from the terminal while the airport was placed on lockdown. The incident delayed two flights, and the airport resumed normal operations at about 7 a.m., Booker said.
