So THAT’S why they call it a runway...

A PASSENGER allegedly chased a plane on to the runway at Dublin airport yesterday because he had missed the flight.

Other travellers said they saw a man shouting ‘Wait!’ as the Ryanair plane taxied, before he was tackled to the ground by airline staff.

Patrick Kehoe was arrested and later appeared in Dublin’s Criminal Courts of Justice charged with criminal damage.

The court was told that the 23-year-old from Oulart, County Wexford, had allegedly broken through a door with a magnetic lock at Gate 106. He was released on bail following a brief appearance and will appear again on November 8 for direction on the damage charge.

After leaving court, Kehoe covered his face with a folder and shouted abuse and insults at waiting reporters. Before the hearing, witnesses at the airport told how they had seen a man talking to airline staff at the gate.

He then broke through the door and began running towards the plane, said to have been bound for Amsterdam, and was heard shouting ‘wait’ as it moved towards the runway. He was tackled to the ground by airport staff and the flight was momentarily delayed.

An airport spokesman said last night: ‘He was banging on the window [at the gate] to try to get the aircraft to wait and he then broke through a door and made his way on to the apron, trying to flag the aircraft down.

‘He was initially restrained by Ryanair staff on the apron, and airport police, who had already been contacted, arrived on the scene almost immediately and arrested him.’