Security is defended after havoc at airport

Friday 29.1.10

DUNDEE AIRPORT operators last night defended their security measures after two drunks breached a boundary fence and discharged a fire extinguisher at five planes.

An airport security officer had found the two in the controlled area, looking into the cockpit of a plane with one of them covered from head to foot in white powder, Dundee Sheriff Court heard yesterday.

Patrick Grigor (24) and David Sneath (25), both of Daniel Place, had previously admitted that on May 20 last year at a hangar at Dundee Airport, they entered a restricted zone and maliciously discharged a fire extinguisher over five aircraft, covering them in a noxious substance and rendering them unsafe to operate.

They further admitted entering two other aircraft without authority and interfering with the controls, whereby they were unsafe to operate until detailed safety checks had been carried out.

A spokesman for the airport operator, Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL), said the swift discovery of the men showed their security system was doing its job.

“There is strict security on the airport site,” he said. “We have 24-hour cover at Dundee airport as well as CCTV coverage. We have improved our security by adding several cameras to the site but these were installed before the recent problem.

“The gentlemen caught on site by security were only on site for a short time after they were caught on camera. We were able to inform police about what happened and they went down and picked them up straight away. The swift actions proved the airport’s security system is doing its job.”

Depute fiscal Ross Cargill said the airport has statutory warning signs on the perimeter fence indicating it is a restricted zone. At 5.15pm on May 19 staff at the airport finished their shift and checked that everything was in order at the airfield and that all aircraft doors were closed.

There were two planes on the airfield and also five planes located in the open hangar. Tayside Aviation rents part of the airfield, including the hangar.

Around 4am on May 20, a patrolling security officer passing the catering centre heard a door opening. He saw both accused in the airport grounds, looking into the cockpit of a plane. He phoned a colleague and the police were contacted. The actions of the two men were monitored on CCTV.

When the police arrived they found both accused on the runway close to several small two-seater planes.

Sneath admitted he had been in a plane and was taken back to the airfield where he identified the plane he had entered. The police noted the aircraft door was ajar.

Asked how he had entered the plane, Sneath stated he had simply pulled down the lever and then opened the handle. Asked how many other planes he had been in, he replied he had been in two more.

Police checked one of the planes and found its door was open, a panel appeared to have been ripped away from the dashboard, the rear cockpit area had been tampered with and the fire extinguisher had been removed from its holder and was lying at the rear of the cockpit.

At police HQ, officers tried to interview Grigor who was covered in white powder, apparently from a powder fire extinguisher. Grigor was so inebriated he could only tell officers he did not know where he was or what he had been doing and he did not know why he had been arrested.

Later police found that in addition to the damage seen previously, a fire extinguisher had been set off in the main hangar. This had coated all five planes in the hangar with corrosive white powder.

Interviewed again, Sneath said he could not recall how they’d got on to the airfield. He had entered two or three planes but could not recall being in the hangar or discharging the extinguisher. Grigor could not recall what he had done at the airport.

Mr Cargill said the total cost of the incident to Tayside Aviation was £8400, none of which was covered by insurance.

Sentence was deferred until February 19.

© All copyright D C Thomson & Co Ltd., 2010