Florida student pilot charged with attempt to steal plane

MELBOURNE, Fla. – A 22-year-old student pilot suspected of boarding a vacant passenger plane at a central Florida airport early Thursday has been charged with criminal attempt to steal an airplane, officials said. The Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating and trying to determine a motive in the case, according to Orlando-Melbourne International Airport spokeswoman Lori Booker. She told news outlets the student pilot, whose name hasn't been released, also faces a visa violation and criminal trespassing charges. Early Thursday, a man drove to the curb outside the airport, left his car running, hopped a fence and boarded an Airbus 321 American Airlines aircraft sitting in a maintenance facility, Booker said. An avionics technician was in the plane's galley when he saw a shadow, Booker said.