A Fort Lauderdale man is facing felony charges after authorities say he scaled an eight-foot, barbed-wire-topped fence at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, snuck onto a parked JetBlue plane, and settled in for a nap in the lavatory. The whole episode ended up costing JetBlue roughly $2,400 in flight delays, according to court documents.
Samuel Prescott Lackey, 32, was found sleeping aboard a JetBlue Airbus A320 early Sunday morning by a maintenance crew preparing to move the aircraft. According to New York Post, the plane had been parked overnight at a private hangar operated by JetScape Business Aviation for routine servicing. That’s when things got unusual.
Investigators say Lackey climbed portable maintenance stairs left beside the aircraft and let himself in through a door that had been left unlocked. From there, he made his way to the restroom and apparently decided it was as good a place as any to catch some shut-eye. Surveillance footage reportedly showed him walking along a nearby service road hours before he was discovered.
Lackey now faces charges of burglary of an occupied conveyance, criminal mischief, and interrupting or impairing critical infrastructure. He appeared before a Broward County judge with bond set at $10,000.
How He Got Past Airport Security
According to the Broward County Aviation Department, Lackey scaled the perimeter fence to reach the secured maintenance area before boarding the aircraft. That raises the obvious question of how someone manages to clear an eight-foot barbed-wire fence and wander around a working airport hangar without anyone noticing until the following morning.
Airport officials say they are reviewing how the breach happened, and it’s a safe bet the fence and door protocols are getting a hard look this week.
A Costly Nap
Because the plane needed a full security sweep before it could be cleared for passengers, JetBlue had to pull it from service and swap in a replacement aircraft.
That kind of last-minute shuffle isn’t cheap, and the airline says the incident tacked on about $2,400 in delay-related costs. Not exactly the kind of wake-up call anyone wants.
Mixed Reactions From Travelers
Word of the incident spread fast around the airport, and reactions were, let’s say, varied. One visitor from Atlanta admitted she “respect[ed] the hustle” even while acknowledging the obvious security gap.
A traveler from New York was less charmed, pointing out the very real concern that if one guy can climb a fence and board a jet undetected, security clearly has some homework to do.
There’s something almost cartoonish about this story, a man hopping a fence just to crash in an airplane bathroom, but the underlying issue is no laughing matter. Airport perimeters exist for a reason, and a $2,400 lesson is a cheap price for finding the gap before someone with worse intentions does.
Here’s hoping Lackey finds a proper bed, and that airport officials find that unlocked door.