Eccentric circles

What is it about airports that attracts so many eccentrics, exhibitionists and nutters? Transport journalist Andrew Wills investigates.
 
Airports serve as a magnet for people behaving strangely. Read any national newspaper for a day or two and you will soon come across stories of nutty goings-on at that country’s airports – and quite likely airports in other countries too.

The range of odd incidents is wide and varied. They take drugs, drink too much, become stressed and uninhibited, pretend to be bombers, and even decide to settle down and live in the terminal.
 
The litany of liquor’s influence is long. At Dallas/Fort Worth International, the most common crimes involve the effects of drink. Instances of passengers over the legal limit driving in and out of the airport are regular. Police say that many of those arrested at ‘DWI’ don't even know they're in the airport!
 
Runway runaways
In Colorado, a drunken car driver crashed into an airport fence at 3am and followed the runway until he ran into electrical equipment. Another was arrested at Fargo airport, North Dakota after he crashed into several vehicles, then through the glass doors of the control tower.
 
One drunken driver somehow managed to steer onto the tarmac at Minneapolis-St. Paul International. San Jose police at Reid-Hillview Airport discovered an intoxicated driver had got through a locked gate and was trying to fill his tank with aviation fuel.
 
And, sadly, cases of pilots being unfit to fly are not unknown. Recently, two Russian captains were sacked by Aeroflot after a court appearance at Manchester, UK, for being ready to fly – under the influence. An American first officer with United Airlines, who thought he was flying the plane to San Francisco, was arrested following a breath test as the plane waited at Terminal One of London's Heathrow Airport.
 
Bangor International Airport in Maine, USA receives more than its fair share of drunk passengers – apparently a quarter of all landings at the former US Air Force base are unplanned stops by planes in emergencies or needing to refuel. Often the emergency involves off-loading a drunken passenger. Each visit nets the airport useful revenue – and Bangor even has even been known to market itself at European trade conventions as the place to ‘drop off your drunks’.
 
Terminal existence
Then there are the ‘residents’. Some people just fall sleep or get lost, while others decide to settle in the terminal. Recently we reported on the “calm and nice” Japanese tourist who is now a celebrity after spending almost three months at Benito Juarez International Airport, Mexico City. Gatwick in the UK had a ‘resident’ for several months this year.
 
Of course some passengers arrive at an airport fully intending to continue on their way, only for their dress sense to cause complications, such as the joker who arrived at security dressed as Osama Bin Laden.

Another traveler in a seasonal Santa costume arrived at South Dakota complete with a sack of presents. The costume and sack kept setting off the metal detector, detaining him so long that ‘Santa’ missed his flight.

Of course, wearing too few clothes can also cause problems. A streaker was detained at a Washington airport after he attempted to pass through security dressed only in an Uncle Sam hat and long beard, while at Los Angeles International, a couple (maybe under the influence of more than lust) were arrested for entering a secure area and performing lewd acts.
 
Weird but wonderful
Question is, what is it that attracts so many nutcases to behave strangely in the confines of their local airport?

Airports do offer a comfortable shelter from the elements and many of the bigger facilities provide all the elements for a comfortable sojourn, including everything from food and clothes, to showers and medical facilities.

It could be that airports continue to hold on to the last vestiges of the glamour of air travel – although that glamour can sometimes be hard to detect.

As a journalist I am indebted to these characters for inspiring so many great stories, and I, for one, believe the world would be a duller place without them. Of course, it remains important to safeguard passenger safety and security, but it would be wrong to try to eliminate such incidents entirely.

After all, it is the determination and initiative of the dedicated airport crank that grab the headlines – and, as such, they should never be underestimated.
 

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