Mentally unstable woman crashes through airport fence onto runway www.privateofficer.com

KALAELOA, OAHU HI Sept 19 2012 – A mentally unstable womandrove her car through the fence and into the runway area at Kalaeloa Airportlast month, raising questions about security at the facility that is used bythe Air Force, Air National Guard, Coast Guard and general aviation aircraft.
The incident happened shortly after 9 p.m. Aug. 7, accordingto spokespeople for the state Transportation and Public Safety departments.
Christine Keliikuli, 62, went up to the security desk at theKalaeloa control tower building and asked if she could get onto the airfield tosee the airplanes, said Caroline Sluyter, a spokeswoman for the Department ofTransportation, whose airports division oversees operations and security there.
Sluyter said when a security guard denied Keliikuli access,she got into her white Jeep SUV and rammed her vehicle through the fence line,bending the pole that usually locks two tall chain-link gates in place.
The woman started driving in the direction of an Air ForceC-17 jet that was taxiing on the Kalaeloa taxiway. A private security guardfrom the company Securitas got into his security truck and chased her down,using his truck to block her vehicle from driving toward the jet, according toToni Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the state Public Safety Department, whosesheriffs division handled the arrest in the case.
Keliikuli stopped, got out of her car and lit a cigarette,according to a sheriff's division report of the incident. She was arrested andofficers said she appeared to be mentally unbalanced, because she was talkingto herself.
Keliikuli was charged with trespassing, criminal propertydamage and driving without a license. She posted bail and was released,Schwartz said.  She posted bail, whichwas less than $100.
"This had the potential of being a very dangerous,devastating situation, had there been more airplanes moving around or had shegotten closer to certain areas," said State Sen. Will Espero (D-Ewa), whochairs the Public Safety, Government Operations and Military Affairs Committeeand co-chairs the Transportation Committee.
While Espero believes Hawaii'sairports are safe and secure, he said the incident "has given us reason tolook at our airport security and see where we can improve it."
"We do have very safe airports.  But one breach is all it takes for us to do atotal review of the system," he added.
DOT spokeswoman Sluyter said, "We reviewed the incidentand found the guard followed proper procedure," Sluyter said.
No wider review of security measures has been undertaken bythe state DOT because Sluyter said it was an "isolated incident by a womanwho might have had some issues."
Sluyter said there are two private security guards atKalaeloa airport 24 hours a day. The facility is surrounded by a chain-linkfence and has several locked gates which offer direct access to hangars,taxiways and runways.
No one was injured and no aircraft were damaged.  The state DOT replaced a metal bar from thegate that the woman ran over in the incident, officials said.  
The C-17 aircraft was conducting night training operationswith Hawaii Air National Guard personnel on board, said a source familiar withthe event The C-17s housed at Kalaeloa are jointly operated and maintained byactive duty Air Force and Hawaii Air National Guard personnel.
A Securitas security guard called 911 immediately after theincident, and Honolulupolice arrived at the scene but could not arrest the woman because the incidenthappened on state airports property where state sheriff's deputies hadjurisdiction, a source said.
Another source familiar with the incident said there wasfurther jurisdictional confusion and someone called the Federal AviationAdministration, since the incident happened at an airport.  But the FAA said sheriffs needed to handlethe incident.
Schwartz said a sheriff's deputy was dispatched to the sceneat 9:40 p.m. and arrived at Kalaeloa at 10:04 p.m., about 25 minutes later,according to a sheriff's report of the incident.  
"I feel that that's a little long," Espero said."Although we did have the Securitas security on site, I'd like to see thetime between when the sheriff's official gets to the airport, that that may becloser to 10 minutes or less."
"We send routine patrols at various times [to Kalaeloa]but Securitas [the private security guard company] is actually stationed"at the airfield, Schwartz, the public safety spokeswoman said. "When lawenforcement is needed, we respond."
A source familiar with the incident said, "She couldhave caused a lot of damage to the plane," noting the C-17 aircraft costsmore than $200 million.  The slightestdamage could cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair, thesource said.  Even a slow-motion crashinto the plane could have caused one of the engines to shred pieces of the car,scattering metal, potentially injuring anyone in the plane or on the groundnearby, the source said.
Source:wfab