Florida man caught sleeping in JetBlue plane lavatory during maintenance inspection: Deputies

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida man is facing several charges after he was found sleeping in a JetBlue airplane parked at JetScape maintenance facility at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Authorities said he admitted to climbing over a fence to access the secured area and enter the plane. 

What we know:

During a routine inspection before moving a plane on Aug. 2, maintenance employees found a man – identified as Sammuel Prescott Lackey, 32 – sleeping in a 2021 JetBlue Airbus A320, Broward County deputies said in a probable cause affidavit. 

The plane had been parked for a little over five hours with the front fuselage inside a hangar and the rear extending outside. According to deputies, the back left door, with access to portable stairs, was left open for maintenance employees to come in and out of the plane while working on the plane. 

Surveillance footage captured a man fitting Lackey's description walking along an airport service road around 9:50 p.m. on Aug. 1. An unknown time later, Lackey climbed the stairs, entered the plane, and hid in the bathroom, the affidavit said. 

List of charges

By 4:30 a.m., Aug. 2, the plane's doors were closed and latched, and the plane was pushed back into a parking space in the corner of the facility. 

Due to finding Lackey on board the plane, authorities claim the plane couldn't be moved on schedule – costing an interruption to service of about $2,400. 

Deputies also said Lackey admitted to climbing over a fence to access a secure area of the airport. Deputies said this "interruption" caused $200 or more in labor within the critical infrastructure. Lackey was charged with burglary conveyance, criminal mischief and trespassing on critical infrastructure. 

FOX 35 has reached out to JetBlue and the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for further comment.