Man arrested after running across Madrid airport tarmac to catch flight

A man who jumped out of a disconnected jet bridge and ran across tarmac at an airport in Madrid caught his flight, but was arrested when it landed.

He had a boarding pass and had cleared security, but had missed boarding for his flight to Gran Canaria.

A video posted on Facebook showed him jumping from 10ft (3.5m) in the air, then shouldering two bags and running.

The Associated Press news agency reports that he broke through fire escape doors to get to the tunnel.

The man could face a fine of up to €45,000 (£38,400) under airport security laws.

The airport worker who posted the mobile phone footage to a union Facebook page wrote: "We're talking level 4 security! You can't even be safe with that..."

Spain operates a five-point security alert scale. Last year it moved the alert level from three (middling) to four (high) after a jihadist attack near Lyon in France.

A spokesman for Ryanair, the airline whose aeroplanes are visible in the video, said it was a matter for airport security.

Local media are reporting that the man is from Bolivia, but beyond that he has not been identified.

One newspaper said he broke through a fire door to reach the disconnected passenger boarding bridge, after he saw a plane start to move and panicked.