Driver on runway halts air traffic in Philadelphia

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Kenneth Richard Mazik (HO/AFP/Getty Images)

A man was charged with DUI and reckless endangerment after driving onto a runway at Philadelphia International Airport as a US Airways plane was about 10 seconds from landing on the strip, an ABC affiliate station in North Carolina is reporting.

The incident forced the closure of the airport for about 30 minutes Thursday morning, but Chief Inspector Joe Sullivan says there’s no connection to terrorism.

Sullivan says 24-year-old traffic light Kenneth Richard Mazik drove through a gate at a construction site just off the runway. He says Mazik drove onto the runway, going up one side before crossing over and driving back down a parallel runway.

Mazik was apprehended within five minutes and is undergoing psychiatric evaluation. Sullivan says the SUV tested negative for any type of hazardous material.

ABCNews blog reports the driver, Mazik, of Chadds Ford, Pa., was charged in Thursday’s incident with driving under the influence, simple and aggravated assault, and several counts of reckless endangerment, defiant trespass and criminal mischief.

Witnesses say Mazik drove his Jeep Cherokee through an airport construction gate only a few yards from the runway at about 10 a.m. The man headed directly for the landing area just as U.S. Airways Flight 3137, a commuter jet, was about to land, they added. At the last minute, a controller ordered the pilot to pull up.

… Witnesses say it seemed as though Mazik attempted to time it so that the Jeep would meet the plane as it landed, according to a report from ABC affiliate WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. Police say Mazik never made it to the runway; officers were able to stop him first.

This handout image courtesy of the Philadelphia Police Department shows the Jeep Cherokee that was driven onto runway at the Philadelphia airport by Kenneth Richard Mazik March 1, 2012.