Homesick Sailor Arrested Trying To Steal A UPS Cargo Plane
Mahiri Hanif, a student at the Naval Air Technical Training Center at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, was apparently homesick and wanted to fly the plane home to see his mother.
Michael Scott Davidson of USA Today writes:
... The trainee at Pensacola Naval Air Station decided to scale a barbed-wire fence at Pensacola International Airport and take a UPS cargo plane for his journey, Pensacola police said. Two officers found him Tuesday inside the cockpit of the plane with his hand on the controls.
Hanif had earlier tried to enter into the airport concourse through an exit lane in an attempt to sneak onto a flight for free. When stopped by a police officer, he claimed he did not have enough money to purchase a ticket.
He also told police he had recently been dishonorably discharged from the military after having suffered through unspecified problems at Naval Air Technical Training Center.
Hanif faces burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and battery of an officer charges. The Department of Defense has also placed a hold on him, which will keep Hanif in jail for an unknown length of time.