Drunk Driver on Runway Shuts Philadelphia Airport

Kenneth Mazik forced plane to abort landing
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 2, 2012 2:16 AM CST
Drunk Driver on Runway Shuts Philadelphia Airport
Kenneth Mazik, 24, is charged with DUI, reckless endangerment and other counts.   (AP Photo/Philadelphia Police Department)

Drunk drivers are a menace to people on the road, but this guy was a menace to people in the sky as well. Philadelphia Airport was closed for 35 minutes late yesterday morning after a man drove his Jeep through a fence and onto the airfield, forcing a passenger plane to abort its landing—just 15 seconds or so from touchdown, CNN reports. Kenneth Mazik, 24, drove up one runway and down another, pursued by a fleet of police cars and emergency vehicles, before he was arrested.

"Everybody on 9-er left it is going to be a delay," an air traffic controller told pilots. "We've got a rogue vehicle driving around on the airport. We are not talking to him. We are not moving anybody until we find this guy." Mazik has been charged with driving under the influence, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, defiant trespass, criminal mischief, and assaulting police officers. (More drunk driving stories.)

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