HOUSTON, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- A 15-year-old boy was arrested after demanding a plane with a handgun and an AR-style rifle at an airport in Texarkana, southern U.S. state of Arkansas, on Tuesday, authorities said.
The teen walked into a private facility at the Texarkana Regional Airport on Tuesday morning, placed a gun on the front counter at the terminal, demanded a plane and cocked his rifle, said Paul Mehrlich, the airport's director.
The boy then forcefully pushed open a door leading out to the airfield, where he confronted with a pilot, said Mehrlich.
The pilot ordered the boy to the ground and disarmed him. Texarkana Police Department officers arrived soon and arrested the youth, said a Fox News report.
"The Texarkana Arkansas Police Department applauds the heroic act by the local pilot," the agency said in a news release. "The fact that this incident was resolved quickly and peacefully, despite the extreme danger presented, is highly commendable."
None is injured during the incident, according to the airport.
The youth was charged with aggravated assault, attempted aggravated robbery and terroristic threatening in the first degree, said the Fox News report.
The airport, the primary airport for the twin cities of Texarkana, Arkansas, and Texarkana, Texas, is run by Signature Aviation that functions as a terminal for jets and other private aircraft. ■
