A significant security breach occurred at GATWICK Airport when an individual attempted to bypass the security and board a plane, but was eventually subdued by brave passengers.
William Jonzi, 24, managed to sneak in behind a paying passenger at the e-gates of this major international airport, aiming to board a flight without any documents early Wednesday morning.
The situation escalated when the man “went berserk” and shouted as he tried to board the TUI flight to Palma de Mallorca, a popular Spanish destination, at 6am. He was then tackled to the ground.
Jonzi snuck past cops by getting through the south terminal’s automatic security gates with another passenger, who was unknowingly “tailgated”.
He was screened in security and cleared to continue airside.
Jonzi then made his way to Gate 23, where the plane, operated by Ascend Airways on TUI’s behalf, was about to depart.
Jimmy McBride, who was on the flight to Spain, told The Sun he grabbed Jonzi and forced him to the ground in front of terrified children and families after spotting him acting erratically.
The father, of Sussex, told The Sun he felt “something was off” as Jonzi charged towards the 6am flight while shouting “I’ve got to get on the plane”.
He said: “I grabbed him as he got two feet on the plane. He was trying to get on and get towards the passengers.
“He tried to come on with another woman and pretended her pram was his.
“The cabin crew had told him he wasn’t coming on the flight. When he tried to get on, they told him, ‘Sir, we’ve told you, you can’t come on.’
“I caught him and got him to the ground, but the crew thought it was a fight and told me to get off him, as if I was beating him up for no reason.”
The plane’s crew are said to have held Jonzi at the front of the aircraft until the police arrived.
Fellow passenger Dayna White, 29, was confronted by Jonzi as he tried to board the flight alongside her mother Andrea.
The mum, who was looking forward to a 10-night family holiday, said: “It was a bit concerning.
“It’s my first holiday with my child, so it wasn’t a good experience.
“We’re going to put a complaint in. He had been loitering around, so it’s hardly as if it was a shock that he’d try to get on that plane.”
The flight eventually took off at 8.20am – two hours and 20 minutes later than scheduled.
Jonzi, of Croydon, South London, appeared at Crawley magistrates’ court last Thursday and pleaded guilty to entering the protected security area of an airport without permission.
He was fined £120 and ordered to pay £89 in costs and surcharges.
Last year, we revealed how jobless Craig Sturt jetted to New York on a British Airways flight following a staggering series of blunders.
A week later, a Brit man managed to sneak onto a Norwegian Air flight in a bid to reach Danish capital Copenhagen undetected.
Tui sources said the plane was operated by another carrier, which was working with the police.
Gatwick Airport declined to comment.
