What unfolded on the taxiway
A United States military aircraft has been damaged after a man broke into the secure area of Shannon Airport in Ireland and attacked it with a hatchet, in an incident that briefly forced the airport to suspend operations.
The alarm was raised shortly before 9.45am on Friday, when a man was spotted in a restricted zone of the airport. According to reports, he made his way onto the wing of a US Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane that had been parked on a remote taxiway, and is then said to have struck the fuselage and wing of the aircraft — said to be worth around $160 million — with a hatchet.
One source told the Irish Journal that the plane sustained “extensive” damage as a result of the attack.
Why the response involved several agencies
Reaching the suspect proved a challenge in itself. First responders were forced to bring out mobile stairs in order to climb up to where he was on the aircraft and bring him down. He was detained and taken into custody within roughly half an hour of the break-in.
The initial response came from the airport’s own police officers and its fire and rescue service, who were soon joined by gardaí and members of the Irish Defence Forces who were already on duty at the site.
A short halt to operations
A spokesperson for Shannon Airport Group confirmed that flights had been temporarily grounded while the incident was dealt with. “The airport suspended operations at approximately 9.50am and resumed operations at 10.15am,” the spokesman said, indicating that normal activity had been restored within around 25 minutes.
