Airport Hero: Employee Tackles Florida Man After Tarmac Car Rampage

A Tampa man pulled off a crazy stunt at Orlando International Airport, and it’s the kind of nutty you don’t see every day. According to WKMG, Ryan Welch, 37, thought it was a good idea to smash his car through the airport fence and take a joyride on the tarmac. This guy went full GTA, driving around runways and taxiways like it was a Rockstar video game.

The cops got a call around 11:10 a.m. about a maniac in a car tearing through Terminal C. Welch parked near gate 237 and got out, probably thinking he was a Florida man from GTA 6. But his Rockstar moment ended quickly. An airport worker, or superhero, as I would like to call him, tackled this dude near the gate and held him down until the police showed up.

Passengers couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It’s not every day you see someone using their car as a battering ram to get onto the runway. It's hard to tell nowadays if it's a terrorist act, or just another airport meltdown. Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in now.

One thing is for sure, you have to give some props to the employee who took this looney down. I think that guy deserved a medal, or at least a nice pay raise. I'm sure that wasn't in his job description.  

The people in charge at the airport wanted Welch charged for causing at least $3,000 in damage. Welch is facing a slew of charges, including trespassing, burglary, and criminal mischief. He’s locked up in the Orange County Jail on a $20,000 bond and didn’t even bother to show up for his court date on Friday.

So, what do we take away from this? Sometimes, life is stranger than fiction. One minute you're waiting for your flight, the next you're watching a guy go on a tarmac joyride. Great job to the airport worker who played the superhero role, but let’s hope Welch gets the help he needs, and stays far away from any airport.

Vacations and travel are supposed to be fun right?  What could be worse then getting to your destination to find that your luggage has been lost? No one wants to wear their plane clothes any longer than they have to.

Unfortunately, it's happening all too often across the United States and apparently, especially here in Florida.

I've been a victim of lost luggage in the past and it just plain sucks.  That's all there is to it.  We spend so much time packing and planning, to make sure we've got everything we need for a trip.  Then to find out you've got nothing, and don't know when or if your stuff will ever reach you.  UGH!  Super frustrating.

With summer in full motion, the crew over at Forbes, put together a list of the worst airports in the country for lost luggage.

In order to complete the list Forbes Advisor compared the nation’s 100 busiest airports using TSA data across four metrics.

The worst airport for lost luggage isn't in Florida.  Phew! Taking the number one spot is John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.  Also among the top 10 worst were Los Angeles, Norfolk, Boston, Harry Reid in Vegas, Newark, Daniel K. Inouye in Honolulu and Dulles in Washington DC.  You can read the full study completed by Forbes here.

So, how did the 5 Florida airports rank in the top 25 worst for lost luggage?  Let's take a look

Between 2013 and 2022, Miami International Airport had the second highest number of both property loss claims and property damage claims

https://www.miami-airport.com/

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport had the ninth highest number of property loss claims over the past decade and tied for eleventh with LAX for property damage claims

https://www.fort-lauderdale-airport.com/

Only about 29% of property loss claims were fully reimbursed.

https://www.orlandoairports.net/

Just over 24% of property loss claims were fully reimbursed.

https://flyrsw.com/

Less than 20% of property loss claims were fully reimbursed.

https://www.tampaairport.com/