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'Drunk' woman KoKo Anderson drives onto airport runway with small child in car

By Lena Sullivan / Dailymail.co.uk 11/16/2012 17:51:00

Read More: KoKo Nicole Anderson

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KoKo Nicole Anderson, 21, crashed through a gate at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport while high on drugs - she was so impaired she didn't even know her 2-month-old son was in the car.

A 21-year-old mother driving with her infant son while high on drugs rammed her car through a security gate and drove onto the runway at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

KoKo Nicole Anderson, from nearby Mesa, smashed a 1997 Saturn through the gate parallel to the city's 44th Street and careered onto the runway at around 10pm on Thursday.

Sgt Trent Crump of Phoenix Police said Anderson started crossing the runway but that officers manged to force the car to stop after a few minutes and detained the driver.

He added she was so impaired she didn't know her two-month old son was in the car with her.

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Sgt Crump said Anderson and her child were not injured, adding that she had taken an unknown drug but did not elaborate on what it was.

No flights were put in danger but airport operations were suspended for about 15 minutes because of the incident.

Sky Harbor communications department declined to release any details, saying only that all operations returned to normal shortly after a 'security incident.'

Police also declined to release any further information but said officers performed a PIT manoeuvre to bring the car to a stop within minutes of the security breach.

The driver was taken in for questioning and booked into jail on aggravated DUI and criminal damage charges.

Crash: A woman, who has not yet been named, smashed through a gate parallel to 44th Street and careered onto the runway at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

Busy: On a daily basis Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport handles about 1,266 planes along and more than 828 tons of cargo

Last year 40,591,948 passengers went through Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport making it the ninth busiest in the United States and one of the top 15 busiest airports in the world.

On a daily basis the airport handles about 1,266 planes along and more than 828 tons of cargo. .

It is not the first incident of a car driving onto an airport runway, in March Kenneth Mazika drove a black Jeep Cherokee onto Philadelphia airport's runways before crashing the car through unmanned Gate 25.

The airport was shut for roughly 35 minutes as a result of the incident.

Mazika had parked outside the gate waiting for a plane to land. As one came in to touch down he drove through the gate and onto the runway.

He was federally charged with disrupting service and endangering airport safety.

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