Car drives onto active taxiway at O.C. airport; driver is hospitalized, official says
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A contract security guard was hospitalized Monday afternoon after he drove onto an airport taxiway and sped past planes, authorities said.
On Dec. 8 around 1:12 p.m., the guard assigned to a security checkpoint “drove a vehicle into an airport taxiway at a high rate of speed,” according to a statement from John Wayne Airport spokesperson AnnaSophia Servin.
Video shared with ABC7 showed a white sedan speeding down the taxiway near planes. The news outlet reported that an air traffic controller advised a Southwest plane to “hold position.”
“There’s a high-speed chase on the taxiway,” the controller said.
Orange County sheriff’s deputies detained the driver shortly thereafter and requested a medical assessment from the Orange County Fire Authority, the statement said.
“The individual was evaluated on scene and determined to be experiencing a possible medical emergency,” Servin said.
He was subsequently hospitalized and suspended from his job, according to the statement. Airport operations continued on schedule.
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