Intruder Gained Access To Aircraft At Andrews Air Force Base In “Serious Breach”

Details are emerging of a rare security breach on Thursday at Andrews Air Force Base, considered the most high secure and sensitive military airport in the US, given it houses presidential and congressional aircraft – and where the president departs when he flies Air Force One.

“A man gained unauthorized access to the flightline Thursday at Joint Base Andrews and entered a C-40 aircraft assigned to the 89th Airlift Wing,” Air Force Times reports.

The intruder was reported to be unarmed and has only been described thus far as an adult male. He was able to enter a C-40 aircraft which crucially is assigned to the Presidential unit that assists in military logistics and security for the executive branch.

It remains unclear what his motives were or whether authorities consider him a threat to the president. He’s since been turned over to police in Prince George’s County after military security at Joint Base Andrews initially detained and thoroughly interviewed the man.

Authorities said the man came “nowhere near” the Air Force One Boeing 737 that transports President Biden and his staff. Base spokesman Col. Roy Oberhaus called it a “serious breach” and said that “nothing was threatened” based on an investigation.

!!!! WHOA: Intruder at Joint Base Andrews got access to flightline and got inside a C-40 aircraft assigned to Presidential unit, per agency statement pic.twitter.com/QYHJQm7ETu

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) February 5, 2021

“The security of our installation is paramount,” he said in a press release. “This was a serious breach of security and Joint Base Andrews is investigating the incident to determine how this happened so it doesn’t happen again.”

Joint Base Andrews is well-known for its massive, multiple layers of military security. The military police unit which overseas it is considered the most elite DoD-wide and traffic in and around is closely monitored, thus it’ll be interesting to learn exactly how the man was able to breach the secure space. But likely the details will remain classified.