Man strips, drives pickup into Southwest plane in Nebraska

Police said they tried to calm him down, but he was paranoid and ran towards the garage.

Dealario Koonce was arrested after driving the truck into the Southwest Airlines flight at Omaha airport on Thursday evening.

The Omaha Police Department, Eppley Airfield Airport Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Transportation Safety Board, and Transportation Security Administration are collaborating in this investigation.

Officers at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, first caught sight of the man around 9.30pm yesterday, when he was reported to be screaming that people were trying to kill him.

The man was taken into custody for an evaluation and treatment.

“Several crew members suffered minor injuries while none of the 18 passengers on board were harmed”, the spokesman said in a statement.

He added that airport security personnel had noticed a man “acting in a freaky manner” near the perimeter of the airport. When officers approached, the man climbed a fence into the gate area, undressed and stole an airline pickup, which he drove into the plane as passengers for Denver were boarding.

Police say Koonce was high on meth at the time of the incident. The flight, scheduled for Denver, was delayed and the plane taken out of rotation for inspection.