"What Is He Doing on the Wing?"... Man in His 40s Arrested for Attacking US Military Transport Plane with Axe

Unauthorized Entry at Shannon Airport,
a Key Transit Hub for U.S. Military Forces

A man who damaged a US military transport aircraft with an axe while it was on standby at an airport in Ireland has been apprehended.

According to reports from international media outlets such as the New York Times (NYT) and AFP on the 13th (local time), a man in his 40s was arrested by local police after breaking into Shannon Airport in western Ireland and damaging a US military transport aircraft.

A man damaging the wing of a US military transport aircraft. Screenshot from SNS

This man illegally entered an unauthorized area of Shannon Airport on the 11th. In a video that spread on social networking services (SNS), the man dressed in black is seen kneeling on the wing of a US Air Force transport plane and repeatedly striking the aircraft with an object. Irish local media reported that the object he was holding is believed to have been an axe.

The transport aircraft damaged by the man was a C-130 Hercules, which the US Air Force uses to transport supplies or troops. A spokesperson for the US Air Force stated that the aircraft was en route to support a bilateral military exercise in Poland, but was damaged in this incident. The spokesperson added, "For operational security reasons, we will not be disclosing detailed information about the extent of the damage," and clarified that there were no casualties.

Immediately after the incident, Shannon Airport suspended operations but later resumed. The airport has long served as a hub for US military aircraft. In particular, it is frequently used as a transit point when senior US military officials travel to Europe and the Middle East. During the 9/11 terrorist attacks, senior US officials also used Shannon Airport as a transfer hub while traveling to and from the Middle East.

However, Ireland is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and maintains a policy of military neutrality. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, anti-war protest groups also gathered near Shannon Airport, citing the fact that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used the airport to transport terrorism suspects.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.