Overview
- JetBlue move-team employees found a man asleep in the aft lavatory of a 2012 Airbus A320 parked at a JetScape maintenance area near Fort Lauderdale after a routine interior inspection.
- Surveillance footage and a deputy interview show the man used portable stairs left by workers, entered through an unlocked rear door, and told deputies he climbed a fence to reach the facility.
- Authorities arrested 32-year-old Sammuel P. Lackey and charged him with burglary of an occupied conveyance, criminal mischief, and interruption of critical infrastructure; he is held on $10,000 bail.
- The discovery prevented the aircraft from being moved as scheduled, forced a replacement plane and caused JetBlue to record an interruption cost of $2,400.96 plus more than $200 in labor impact.
- The case highlights security vulnerabilities around perimeter fencing, temporary access equipment and unlocked aircraft doors, and shows routine pre-movement inspections can stop unauthorized boardings before takeoff.