“Desperate Act: Why a Bystander Risked It All to Stop a Flight in Its Tracks”

We’ve all been there, right? That moment of panic when you realize time’s slipping away at the airport—certainly enough to induce some questionable choices. But one man in Chile cranked this phenomenon up to an 11! When he found himself running late for his flight at El Tepual International Airport, he opted for the wildest option possible: sprinting straight toward the runway, as if the plane was a school bus he was desperate to catch. I mean, how do you even get to that level of frantic? If only he had spent those adrenaline-fueled minutes like the rest of us—finding the nearest overpriced sandwich shop instead! In a spectacular mix of determination and a complete disregard for airport rules, this incident has certainly raised eyebrows and questions… like how he even made it that far. Curious to know more about this audacious escapade? LEARN MORE.

The airport experience can lead us to do crazy things, but a man in Chile took things to a whole other level recently.

If you’re a cautious person like me, you’ll like to get to the airport nice and early and get through security without the sort of stress levels that might lead you to forgetting your son Kevin at home before Christmas.

It’s far more relaxing to give yourself two hours before the flight and spend £8 on that bottle of water from WHSmith.

Well, this chap in Chile might well have been giving the new 15-minute method a go when he arrived just a little bit later than he should have done at El Tepual International Airport in Puerto Montt on Monday, 3 March.

After realising that he was about to miss his flight to the city of Concepción, the 29-year-old man pegged it towards the runway as if chasing the school bus, all without any airport security in sight.

A man was seen standing in front of a plane on the tarmac at El Tepual International Airport in Puerto Montt, Chile (Newsflash)

Perhaps trying to emulate the actions of the ‘Tank Men’ who have gone viral in China and Ukraine over the years, the Chilean man stood brazenly in front of the LATAM Airlines jet, almost daring it to take off.

Although he tried to wave down the pilot, they clearly weren’t in the mood to let him on despite the valiant effort. It was probably too late to get the steps back out again, to be fair.

After around a minute of waiting, the man was swiftly removed by airport staff and later arrested. He was scheduled to appear in front of a judge on Tuesday, 4 March.

It remains unclear how the man got there in the first place without being intercepted by security, and also why he was so desperate to get on the flight, given that it was an in-country trip lasting just one hour.

Unsurprisingly, the man was arrested for his dangerous stunt (Newsflash)

But what is known is that this isn’t his first run-in with the law, with local news outlet BioBioChile reporting that he’s been arrested past for threats and thefts.

If he’d missed a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Blackpool for example, it might have been slightly more understandable.

This is only the latest story in some of the wild events that go on in airports, with security at Cartagena airport in Colombia apprehending a man recently who was attempting to traffic 19 capsules of cocaine, worth $10,000, in his wig.