For the amount of “security theater” you’ll find at airports, it’s amazing how things sometimes slip through the cracks. Here’s a case where someone wandered an airport terminal, then snuck onto the apron, then managed to board a plane and sleep there, only to be confronted by the crew in the morning (thanks to Samo for flagging this)…
In this post:
Austrian Airlines plane broken into overnight in Slovakia
This incident happened in the early morning hours of Thursday, July 23, 2026, at Košice International Airport (KSC). At around 1AM, a man started wandering around the airport’s terminal. Let me point out that this is a small airport, and it has no traffic in the middle of the night, so the terminal was empty.
He reportedly walked into closed outlets in the terminal, including going into one bar to make himself a coffee, and then going into another bar to make himself a meal, while leaving both places a mess. No one seemingly noticed.
A short while later, he coincidentally met an airport employee, and asked her about when flights would be departing. The woman advised him that he’d have to wait until the ticket counters opened, and the man reportedly responded with a nonsensical statement. He then vanished from the terminal, and the employee had assumed he left.
While he did indeed leave the terminal, he didn’t leave the airport. Instead, security footage showed him near the airport’s perimeter fence, which he decided to climb. He then spent nearly an hour wandering around the tarmac. He eventually came across the Austrian Embraer E190, which had stairs pulled up to it. This plane was scheduled to operate to Vienna Airport (VIE) at 5:25AM.
So he climbed the stairs, opened the door, and entered the aircraft. Shortly after 4AM, the crew showed up to work the flight to Vienna, only to find the man asleep in the first row of seats. At that point he reportedly asked the crew “are we flying already?”
The flight ended up being delayed by around two hours, as the captain requested a security inspection of the aircraft, including a police dog ruling out the risk of any explosives being inside the aircraft.
The man was then detained by police. He didn’t have any identifying documents on him, though there were papers indicating that he was a psychiatric patient.
The number of security failures here is staggering
We often talk about “security theater” in the aviation industry. So much effort is put into basically “checking boxes,” even if there’s not much safety justification for it. Then you have situations like this, which make you scratch your head.
Unfortunately this guy seemed to have some mental issues, so I’m not here to make fun of him for that. Instead, it’s just incredibly alarming that this guy was able to sneak into a terminal, break into businesses, interact directly with an employee, then sneak onto the apron, and then break into a plane, all without being caught?
The number of security breaches here is nothing short of astounding. Even when terminals are empty, you’d assume there’s a high level of security monitoring that’s happening, and clearly that wasn’t the case here.
To state the obvious, this guy could’ve snuck anything into the terminal and/or onto the aircraft, and that could’ve made its way into the larger aviation ecosystem. I hope the airport takes a close look at some of its security procedures.
Bottom line
A man managed to break into a Slovakian airport, roam the terminal, make himself food and drinks in closed restaurants, and interact with an employee, all without arousing any suspicion. Then he climbed the airport fence and got onto an Austrian Embraer E190, where he fell asleep.
He was discovered by the crew that was supposed to work the flight to Vienna, as he asked them if the flight had departed yet.
What do you make of this major airport security lapse?
Sad that he couldn't bothered to clean up after himself at the restaurants. If he's with-it enough to make food, he's with-it enough to wipe things down and wash the dishes!
This happened in the USA, Key West, 2015, though the perpetrator climbed into and went to sleep in the luggage compartment of a parked Delta jet after jumping the fence. The fences have since been raised. I sat on the jury. It was all very interesting. I believe mental health was at play in the US incident but was not allowed as part of the testimony.
Perhaps his only mental disability is being an AvGeek. He's probably a big contributor to this blog.
Ben, why have you used a photo of the VIE terminal, instead of the KSC terminal, for the second picture?
Presumably Ben doesn't have a pic of KSC terminal. Fun fact: KSC is actually owned by VIE.
The first picture is not from KSC airport either. There are no jet bridges there.
Ben: “Unfortunately this guy seemed to have some mental issues, so I’m not here to make fun of him for that.”
Comment section: “My turn…”
If one needs to sleep after a good meal , the most comfortable place to sleep is an airplane .
Not on an Austrian Embraer E190, all economy seating. Guy had mental issues indeed. :(
Guys, if we soon see a plane review of Austrian Embraer E190 here, we'll know who it came from. Ha ha
"though there were papers indicating that he was a psychiatric patient."
This explains 95% of this story.
100% agree about the security lapses (including "why are the bars and restaurants not locked at night?").
It's also a bit heartbreaking for the man who did this, as clearly he is extremely unwell, and it shines another spotlight on the plights of those with mental illness globally. It's extremely saddening.
"Mental illness" is often prevalent with those with mobile phones . Why else would a pilot scroll his inbox whilst piloting an airplane ? Perhaps he was an FA taking a break from his phone ?
"mental illness" says the penis who talks ONLY about vaccines and Trump.
What’s the saying… “Let sleeping dogs lie.”
Anyway, hope he had a nice nap-nap.