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Car crashes inside terminal of North Carolina airport

Driver crashes car into airport terminal
Driver crashes car into North Carolina airport terminal 00:19

A suspect has been taken into custody after driving a car onto the tarmac of an airport in Wilmington, North Carolina, Thursday night, and then crashing the vehicle inside a terminal, authorities said.

The New Hanover County Sheriff's Office told CBS News in a statement that the car "breached" a fence at Wilmington International Airport at about 7 p.m. EST and drove onto the tarmac.

When the suspect started to drive off the tarmac, he was "engaged by deputies" and "ultimately ended up inside the terminal after crashing through doors and windows," the sheriff's office said.  

Photos from the scene showed the car sitting inside the terminal with significant front-end damage, and broken glass strewn across the floor.

Car crashes inside terminal of North Carolina airport
A car which drove onto the tarmac and then crashed into a terminal at  Wilmington International Airport in Wilmington, North Carolina, on March 9, 2023.  WWAY-TV

No one was hurt during the ordeal, both the sheriff's office and the airport said.

The male driver, whose name was not immediately released, was detained and will face multiple state and federal charges, the sheriff's office said.

The airport said in a statement provided to CBS News that the incident "had minimal impact to operations." The airport expected to be "fully operational" by Friday morning.

Sheriff's officials did not detail exactly how the suspect was able to breach the fence. 

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