Weather 
SANTA ANA, Calif. () — A Delta Air Lines passenger was arrested Tuesday after allegedly breaching security at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, stealing an airline tug and crashing it into another vehicle on the airfield, officials said.
The incident happened around 5:30 p.m. when the passenger allegedly entered the airfield through Gate 12, took an Alaska Airlines tug and drove it before crashing into a vehicle near Gate 7, according to airport officials.
Airport officials said the passenger then tried to take an American Airlines lavatory truck before being stopped by Airport Police Services.
Airport officials said the passenger, who was scheduled to fly from Orange County to Seattle aboard a Delta flight, was taken into custody after the incident. The Gate 7 area was closed for about 10 minutes while authorities responded, and the passenger was later transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
Radio communications captured an air traffic controller alerting a pilot to the situation. During one exchange, a pilot asked about law enforcement activity near an aircraft.
An air traffic controller replied that “someone stole a tug.”
“Yeah, looks like someone stole a tug, a security breach at the airport, someone stole a tug so they pretty much shut down, put a ground stop in effect,” an air traffic controller said.
Although an air traffic controller referenced a ground stop in radio communications, no official ground stop was issued. Flights were briefly halted.
Delta said it is aware of the incident and referred questions to airport authorities and the police department for additional information.
Airport officials said the incident had no impact on overall airport operations.
© 2026 Television,
