Man Jumps Airport Fence, Gets In Pilot’s Seat To Go See Mom

March 26, 2014

A Georgia man told police he wanted to fly to Atlanta to see his mother and that he didn’t have any money, so he jumped the fence and climbed into a plane at the Pensacola airport this afternoon.

Mahiri Hanif, 20, of Atlanta, was charged with burglary/unoccupied conveyance unarmed after police said he climbed over a fence at the Pensacola International Airport and boarded an unoccupied cargo plane.

The incident occurred around 1:30 p.m. Police officers said Hanif had gone inside the airport and tried to enter the airport concourse through the exit lane. An officer made contact with Hanif at the exit lane and told him he had to go through the TSA checkpoint.

Hanif left the area and was seen a short time later climbing over a fence topped with barbed wire, running up portable steps leading to the cargo plane, opening the door, and entering the plane.

When officers arrived, they found him sitting in the pilot’s seat and took him into custody.

Comments

12 Responses to “Man Jumps Airport Fence, Gets In Pilot’s Seat To Go See Mom”

  1. Robert S. on March 28th, 2014 4:04 pm

    Hey, ya gotta admire the guy’s confidence.
    Kind of not to smart choice but high flying with confidence.

  2. David Huie Green on March 28th, 2014 6:58 am

    Alternative headline:

    MENSA MISSES ANOTHER PROSPECTIVE MEMBER

  3. melodies4us on March 27th, 2014 9:37 pm

    Poor guy.. : ( Would someone please buy this boy a ticket to go see his mom?

  4. Charlie F. on March 27th, 2014 4:54 pm

    Chain link security fences only keep out honest people & can be easily breached. Another news source says in so many words that he was attempting to “steal” the UPS cargo plane. Not possible the way it is parked. It would have to be pushed back with a tug & tow bar from its parking spot that is was “nosed” into. Starting up is usually done with a tug towed or self propelled power generator, as it takes a lot of juice to start the first engine. Some do have an auxiliary (APU) power unit built in or are capable of a battery start, but all methods would take a skilled person with extensive knowledge of the aircraft systems to start it. It does not appear this guy was qualified to do so, much less even get it to the runway or fly it. It may have not even been fueled yet for its next trip.

  5. fred on March 27th, 2014 2:32 pm

    Maybe not a dumb crook, but the guy whose job it is to determine the security at a small airport for a terrorist group.

  6. Jane on March 27th, 2014 4:29 am

    Stop a minute and think…what if this guy was a suicide bomber or wanted to steal the plane…are they going to shoot the plane down? How did they find out he climbed the fence and how long did it take them to catch him after he climbed the fence?

  7. SHO-NUFF on March 27th, 2014 1:26 am

    Guess you just jump in the plane, crank her up and put it in drive. Can’t be that much to flying the thing to Hot-Lanta! LOL!

  8. wm on March 26th, 2014 11:30 pm

    Clearly a nut job — as evidenced by his wearing of the anti-suicide “Gumby” suit in his booking photo…

    “Dang — there was lots of switches and dials in that plane”…

  9. MQ on March 26th, 2014 5:26 pm

    I think the security at airports are becoming very much a joke and people like this man are making it more and more obvious. Sad for flyers. Just recently look at the teen who snuck into the Trade Center and climbed to the top. And then three men were exposed who did a parachute stunt from the top of the same building a few months earlier. Crazy. Spending tons of money isn’t working – it is only giving a false sense of security. I agree with MADCOW, the only ones penalized are law abiding citizens by having their privacy invaded by being probed in intimate ways.

  10. deBugger on March 26th, 2014 5:19 pm

    Dumbest. Crook. Ever.

  11. JustSayin' on March 26th, 2014 5:03 pm

    Good thing this guy wasn’t a terrorist with a bomb. Looks like the joke Pensacola has for a mayor (Hayward) needs to worry more about airport security and not the types of trousers the airport police wear.

  12. MADCOW on March 26th, 2014 4:13 pm

    so…. if the guy had a pilot’s license or ability to fly the plane maybe he would have got away with this.
    I don’t know about anyone else, but I can hardly check into a flight legally at Pensacola Airport without being probed in intimate ways.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News