Report: Man arrested at Las Vegas airport after climbing plane wanted to tell the world his ‘story’
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LAS VEGAS, NV (KVVU) — Alejandro Carlson ran across two active runways at McCarran International Airport and waved down a flight of 72 people before he climbed an airplane’s wing, hoping to tell the world his “story,” according to an arrest report.
On Dec. 12 about 1:35 p.m., Captain Mark Frank of Alaskan Airlines Flight 1367 notified the FAA that a man was attempting to wave down his plane as it prepared to take off just north of Gillespie and Sunset. An investigation revealed Carlson had scaled a 7-foot fence to get there.
“That action caused Captain Frank to stop the aircraft within what is called the ‘movement area’ which is a space between runways,” an arrest report read. “Moments later, that male ran to the rear of the aircraft and climbed onto the left main wing and began walking on the wing.”
Las Vegas police made contact with the man and attempted to talk him down, but were unsuccessful. Officers T. Mason, T. Conn, M. Prager, R. Pro and Sgt. J. McCauslin responded to the incident.
At one point, Carlson lied down on the wing, bloodied and unresponsive. Moments later, Carlson fell to the ground, allowing officers to make contact.
“The male stood up and shimmied his way off the tip of the wing and fell to the ground where he was taken into custody without further incident,” police said in the report.
He was transported to UMC Trauma with a broken nose and minor cuts.
Aboard Flight 1367 were three Federal Air Marshals, police said. According an investigation, Carlson’s action endangered the public in multiple ways. First, Carlson was running across an active runway with arriving and departing flights. His presence could have amounted in evasive action from a moving flight, mechanical failure and injury caused by a collision.
“Takeoffs and landings are typically considered to be the most dangerous phases of aircraft flights,” the report read. “This action obviously endangered numerous members of the public and property (aircraft).”
Finally, Carlson’s actions could have sparked panic or “trample injuries” caused by passenger anxiety or fear, police said in the report.
Follow the incident, Counter Terrorism Sgt. Cunningham interviewed Carlson and he admitted he was a mentally ill individual seeking a broader audience to tell his “story.”
However, it was unclear what he hoped to tell passengers on the plane.
Carlson was booked for disregard for the safety of a person or property and trespassing.
Documents from Las Vegas police said that the FAA had to divert other flights because of the incident; however, according to a McCarran Airport spokesperson, only the single airplane was affected and the FAA did not have to divert other flights.
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