Delta Passenger Stole An Airport Tug, Crashed It—Then Went After American’s Toilet Truck

A Delta Air Lines passenger waiting to fly to Seattle stole an Alaska Airlines tug, crashed it on the airfield at Orange County’s John Wayne Airport, and then tried to hijack an American Airlines lavatory truck used to empty toilets. Police stopped him before he could manage a trifecta of airlines in his caper. This began around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 6. The passenger went through an access door at Gate 12 and made his way onto the ramp. He drove Alaska’s tug to near Gate 7, where he hit another vehicle. Then he went for American’s lavatory truck. Airport police took him into custody. He was arrested on charges of vehicle theft, trespassing and vandalism and taken to a hospital for evaluation. Controller audio posted by OC Scanner on October 6, 2026 Flights briefly paused, and the Gate 7 area was closed for about 10 minutes. Airport crews checked the route between the gates for debris before normal movement resumed. Delta says they’re cooperating with law enforcement and have “zero tolerance for unlawful behavior.” The closest case I’ve covered was a United passenger in Orlando in December 2016 who was refused boarding for erratic behavior. He decided to prove them right by pushing onto the jet bridge, heading out an emergency exit, taking a baggage tug, and driving to an airport fire station, where a firefighter apprehended him. And Orange County airport had a car racing between taxiing aircraft last December. Video showed the white sedan passing planes and ground workers. BREAKING 🚨🚨 #OrangeCounty / #California Dramatic Video from Monday afternoon shows a car speeding down the tarmac at John Wayne Airport almost colliding with airplanes and airport workers. The driver eventually stopped and was detained by OCSD deputies. The driver was identified as a contract security guard who may have been having a medical episode before breaking into the secure area. — OC Scanner 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 (@OC_Scanner) December 10, 2025 Last year there was also the passenger who took an unattended golf cart down Buffalo airport’s moving walkway, breaking glass panels along the way after keys had been left in the vehicle. And in Omaha in 2016 a man stole a running Southwest Airlines pickup and drove into a Boeing 737’s nose gear. That caused $1 million in damage and injured a pilot and flight attendant. No aircraft collision has been reported in this latest incident. Topics on this page