A woman has been arrested and charged after making her way past security and onto the tarmac area at Canberra Airport (CBR) on Wednesday.
The woman, who was captured on video footage shot by another passenger, had allegedly found her way past airport security checkpoints before running out to a Qantas aircraft which was preparing to depart for Adelaide.
Video footage of Canberra Airport incident
It is understood that the woman concerned had been reportedly trying to board the aircraft after missing the flight.
Video footage shows her trying to attract the attention of the pilots on the flight deck from beneath the First Officer’s side window position on the right hand side of the aircraft.
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An alarm can be heard in the background as a somewhat perplexed First Officer notices her out of the flight deck window.
The flight crew subsequently went through an engine shutdown as a precautionary measure to ensure her safety.
Reports from other Canberra Airport passengers on social media suggest that the woman had managed to push past security staff and the door before making her own way out onto the tarmac and up alongside the Qantaslink aircraft, as it was preparing for departure.
One bystander who witnessed the incident subsequently commented on social media: “Here is the thing, at no point, even with plenty of staff around, no one stopped her. So much for security. If she was at the cricket she would have been gang tackled.”
It is understood that she was subsequently taken into the custody of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) before being charged with two counts of damaging property, one count of entering a security zone without permission and one further count of being in possession of a small amount of cannabis.
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