Seattle Times
Men in trouble for driving on Pierce County airport runway
KING 5 news staff
Police say it appears the two, in their early 20s, had been drinking as they jumped in the car and took it for a spin in a place they shouldn’t have.
Both are believed to be employees of the Tacoma Narrows Airport, so they had the authorization to be there, but that privilege was abused.
“One or both occupants of the car already had access to the airport, so this is in no way tied to terrorist activity or breach of homeland security,” said Corey Darlington of the Tacoma Police Dept.
But doing what they did could cost them their jobs.
A security guard at the airport says the Pontiac Grand Am must have been going at least 100 miles an hour down the runway.
“They drove their car to the south end of the runway. They then drove their car to the north end at an extremely high rate of speed,” said Darlington.
That’s when something went wrong and the driver lost control.
The car went flying off the tarmac, through a field for roughly 100 yards, then flew about 60 feet in the air, slammed into the side of a hill, and rolled to the bottom.
The passenger suffered a fractured leg. The driver had some bumps and bruises.
Both men were taken to Tacoma General Hospital.
Police say the driver most likely will face some type of criminal charge for being out on the runway, and the FAA could step in and investigate.
