Late passenger runs onto Arizona airport tarmac to stop missed flight

A 53-year-old woman who was late for her flight ran onto the tarmac at Sky Harbor Airport in an attempt to stop the plane that was about to take off without her.

The woman, identified as Vickie Meyers, was late for a Sunday afternoon flight. She arrived at the gate and found that the door to the jetway had closed.

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Court documents stated that the woman, who is from St. Louis, then “decided to run through the double glass doors separating the passenger area and the secure airfield,” and “ran” down a flight of stairs toward the nose of the plane before she was stopped by the staff.

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Law enforcement officials arrived at the scene and detained her. She told them that she was just attempting to have the plane stopped so she wouldn’t miss her flight. Meyers was taken into custody for trespassing and taken to Maricopa County Jail. She has since been released on her own recognizance and permitted to return to St. Louis. Her hearing is scheduled for January. 

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Meanwhile, an eyewitness named Bryan Jones shared a video clip of the incident with Phoenix news station KSAZ-TV. In the video, the woman can be seen standing on the tarmac beside an airport employee. Cops then onto the tarmac toward the woman and later lead her back inside.  

“She decided to go out the emergency exit doors onto the tarmac and start arguing with the ground crew why she should be let onto the plane still,” Jones told the station.