A man managed to evade security and get onto a busy runway at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) on Monday evening in a hair-raising incident that took pilots and air traffic controllers by surprise.
It remains unclear how the man circumvented security controls at the sprawling airport, and no one appeared to be aware that he was on the airfield until he suddenly ran towards an American Airlines jet that was just about to take off.
In a stunning air traffic control recording between the American Airlines jet and the control tower, the pilots could be heard explaining that the man was running towards their plane with his hands in the air.
American Airlines flight AA-1804 to Tampa, Florida, departed the gate at around 5:27 pm on February 23 and was taxiing for takeoff from Runway 7L. As the pilots of the Airbus A321 approached the end of the take-off runway, they spotted the man at the end of a parallel runway being used for landing aircraft.
- Pilot: Hey, Tower, 1804, you see the guy over there by G1 walking on the runway?
- Tower: The guy walking on the runway?!
- Pilot: Yes, sir
- Tower: Uh, no, we don’t
- Pilot: He’s cleared the runway for that landing traffic, but he’s waving his arms at me right now
- Tower: We’re calling ops right now… hopefully we’ll get someone out there shortly
- Pilot: He’s about ready to cross the hold short line
Another pilot then called the tower to say they had seen the man take off his shoes and leave them on the runway.
ATC: “There’s a guy walking on the runway?”
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) February 24, 2026
Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport this evening, some nut job tried to flag down an American Airlines flight and then started running down the runway. Maybe they missed their flight? 👀🤣
Audio via @theATCapp pic.twitter.com/nj7J5Dghos
The Phoenix Police Department responded to the incident and detained the man on the airfield. In a statement, law enforcement said they believe the man was suffering a mental health episode and was transported to the hospital for assessment.
Surprisingly, operations at the airport were largely undisturbed, and flight AA-1804 took off only a couple of minutes after the man was spotted on the runway.
In January 2024, a man was tragically killed in a horrific accident at Salt Lake City International Airport when he broke onto the airfield and was sucked into the engine of a Delta Air Lines Airbus A321 that was taxiing for departure.
Kyler Efinger, who was only 30 years old at the time of his death, suffered a manic episode while waiting to catch a delayed flight from the airport. As his mental health deteriorated, he broke through a fire door onto the tarmac.
Kyler then ran towards a Delta Air Lines jet that was just starting up its engines following a routine de-icing. By the time the pilots noticed Kyler and killed the engines, it was already too late, and he was sucked into one of the engines.
