WATCH: Florida Tech Student Pilot Nishal Sankat Identified as Suspect Who Breached Airliner at Melbourne Airport
By Space Coast Daily // September 20, 2018
ORLANDO MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CLOSED FOR SEVERAL HOURS AFTER INCIDENT
SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Nishal Sankat, a 22-year-old Florida Institute of Technology student pilot, was arrested after climbing a fence at the Orlando Melbourne International Airport and boarding an American Airlines aircraft.
WATCH: Orlando Melbourne International Airport reopened Thursday after an early-morning security breach. Airport officials said that a 22-year-old man with a pilot’s license breached airport security and boarded a full-size passenger American Airlines jet that was undergoing maintenance. (Fox 35 video)
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Nishal Sankat, a 22-year-old Florida Institute of Technology student pilot, was arrested after climbing a fence at the Orlando Melbourne International Airport and boarding an American Airlines aircraft.
Sankat has been charged with a criminal attempt to steal an airplane, visa violation and criminal trespassing.
Florida Tech officials said that the suspect was a native of Trinidad and Tobago and a part-time student studying aviation management who completed flight training.
Orlando Melbourne airport officials said the suspect breached airport security and boarded a full-size passenger American Airlines jet that was undergoing maintenance.
According to Orlando Melbourne Airport officials, Sankat parked his car outside the terminal, then ran through the grass and jumped the razor-wired fence to gain access.
Local law enforcement, along with Federal officials with the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force is on the scene investigating the breach in security.
Flights out of Orlando Melbourne International Airport were grounded for several hours after Sankat boarded an American Airlines Airbus A321 jet, which was not in service.
Airport spokesperson Lori Booker said a technician and a supervisor acted quickly and neutralized the suspect immediately.
“When they approached him, and he did not answer accordingly, they tackled him,” Booker said during a press conference.
“They brought him down in the cockpit, and they wrestled him down to the hangar.”
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