An unarmed intruder managed to breach Joint Base Andrews in Maryland – the home of Air Force One, officials said.
The suspect — described by base officials only as an adult male — gained “unauthorized access” Thursday to the flightline at the facility and entered a C-40 aircraft assigned to the 89th Airlift Wing.
Security personnel at the base responded and detained the man before interviewing him. Officials from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations also participated in the interview, base officials said.
“He was booked by OSI and given a federal summons for trespassing,” according to a statement released Friday afternoon by the Maryland military base. “He was turned over to local law enforcement, given that he had two outstanding warrants.”
The male suspect was not armed and did not harm any base personnel. There’s also no indication that he has any ties to extremist groups, officials said.
The man’s identity was not being released Friday, a base spokesman told The Post.
“The security of our installation is paramount,” Col. Roy Oberhaus, vice commander of the base’s 316th Wing, said in a statement. “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.”
Linda Card, a spokeswoman for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, told The Post the man was turned over to police in Prince George’s County.
He was later transported to the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections, authorities told the Air Force Times.
A sheriff’s office spokesman did not provide details about his identity or the outstanding warrants, the outlet reported.
A spokeswoman confirmed the intruder got onto the base and was being interviewed by investigators. Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesA White House official, meanwhile, reportedly said the intruder was “nowhere near” the Boeing 747 that’s referred to as “Air Force One” when the commander-in-chief is onboard.
The C-40 is based on the commercial Boeing 737-700 business jet, according to an Air Force website.
“The C-40B is designed to be an ‘office in the sky’ for senior military and government leaders,” the site reads.
The incident came just one day ahead of President Biden’s scheduled flight from the base southeast of Washington, DC, to Delaware, according to the president’s schedule released late Thursday.
The call sign for Air Force One — also known as the “president’s office in the sky” — is technically used to designate any Air Force aircraft carrying the commander-in-chief, according to the White House’s website.
