Ex-convict sneaks onto JetBlue aircraft at Fort Lauderdale airport and sleeps overnight
Samuel Prescott Lackey, a 32-year-old on parole, climbed a fence at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, entered a parked JetBlue plane and was found asleep the next morning.
On August 1, Samuel Prescott Lackey, a 32-year-old parolee from Louisiana, breached security at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport by climbing an eight-foot barbed-wire fence. After entering a service road, he accessed a remote hangar where a JetBlue aircraft was parked for overnight maintenance, using a set of portable stairs to board the plane and conceal himself in a lavatory. The aircraft’s door had been left open, allowing him to remain inside until JetBlue staff discovered him asleep during a routine inspection the following morning.
Broward County Aviation Department officials arrested Lackey and charged him with criminal mischief, burglary of an occupied conveyance, and interference with critical infrastructure. JetBlue’s corporate communications pledged assistance to law-enforcement, while the intrusion caused a flight delay that cost the airline about $2,400. Lackey is being held on a $10,000 bond at the Broward Main Jail.
Why it matters
The breach highlights vulnerabilities in airport security and can disrupt airline operations.
In this story