Kenneth Richard Mazik, the Chadds Ford man who drove onto a runway at Philadelphia International Airport earlier this year, was sentenced today to 16 months in prison.
Mazik, 25, pleaded guilty in July to disrupting services at the airport, and in doing so, endangering safety at the airport for the March 1 incident. Prosecutor said that Mazik drove his Jeep Cherokee through a locked gate around the airport as a plane was approaching for landing. He ran over and damaged two runway lights and caused the approaching plane to be diverted.
Mazik drove onto a second runway before police finally caught him, according to prosecutors. The incident closed the airport for 30 minutes and caused numerous planes to be delayed, causing financial losses to the airport.
In addition to prison time, U.S. District Court Judge Mitchell Goldberg ordered Mazik to pay $91,092 in restitution to the airport, the Federal Aviation Administration and US Airways, a $100 assessment and three years supervised release.
