Houston Intercontinental Airport runway briefly closed after report of trespasser on tarmac

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Operations at Bush Intercontinental Airport weren’t impacted despite a response to a reported person trespassing on the tarmac Tuesday evening.

Houston Airports System said a woman was on runway 15L – one of the five serving the airport – causing a closure of the tarmac for about 15 minutes.

The apparent trespasser was taken into custody at about 8:40 p.m.

It was not immediately known how the person made it on the tarmac, or who that person is, but authorities believe she wasn’t a passenger on a flight.

Tuesday’s incident came about two months after an unrelated intrusion by a police chase suspect. In that incident, investigators said a man used a box truck to crash through the gates at IAH.

It wasn’t until an airport employee on a luggage trolley helped block the suspect from hitting an airplane. Court documents identified the suspect in the April ordeal as Karl Hollis.