Passengers watch as intruder walks on wing of plane at Las Vegas airport, video shows

A video taken Saturday afternoon shows a man walking on the wing of a parked Alaska Airlines jet at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

Passengers murmur in confusion as the man walks to a vertical winglet, throws off his shoes and socks, and tries to climb it, the video shows.

In the video, the pilot asks passengers to move away from emergency doors over the wing so Las Vegas police officers can exit to detain the man.

As officers step out onto the wing, the man tries even harder to climb the vertical winglet but slips off and tumbles to the tarmac as passengers gasp, the video shows.

Las Vegas police arrested the man, who had hopped a perimeter fence about 1:30 p.m., the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

The incident delayed the departure of Flight 1367, a Boeing 737 bound for Portland, Oregon, so the plane could be inspected for any damage, CNN reported.

Police say the man may have been impaired or suffering from mental illness, KLAS reported.

“What somebody is doing up there when a plane is getting ready to take off is really puzzling,” said aviation analyst John Nance, KTNV reported.

This story was originally published December 13, 2020 at 1:39 PM with the headline "Passengers watch as intruder walks on wing of plane at Las Vegas airport, video shows."