A man has been arrested after he was able to make his way to the flight line at Joint Base Andrews and enter a military aircraft a day before President Biden was set to depart the base for Delaware, the Air Force said.
The base said the man, who has not yet been publicly identified, was detained on Thursday by security and interviewed with the help of the United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations. It did not appear that he had any ties to extremist groups, but he did have warrants out for his arrest. He was turned over to local law enforcement after receiving a federal summons for trespassing.
Air Force Office of Special Investigations spokeswoman Linda Card told the Military Times that Prince George’s County now has custody of the intruder. She added: “Nothing was threatened, and the guy was turned over to the local police.”
“He did nothing to the military,” Card said. “This is not our investigation.”
After gaining unauthorized access to the base, the man was able to enter a C-40 airline transport jet assigned to the 89th Airlift Wing, according to a statement. A White House official said the man wasn’t found near the location of the Boeing 747 that Biden will use and will be called Air Force One when the president is on board. Any Air Force aircraft carrying a sitting president is automatically labeled Air Force One.
“The security of our installation is paramount,” said Col. Roy Oberhaus, the vice wing commander of the 316th Wing at Joint Base Andrews. “This was a serious breach of security, and Joint Base Andrews is investigating the incident to determine how this happened so it doesn’t happen again.”
Biden is scheduled to take Air Force One on Friday from Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County, Maryland, roughly a dozen miles southeast of Washington, D.C., to Wilmington, Delaware, in the late afternoon.
