'The devil made me do it:' Man slams car into airport terminal in Wilmington

The driver, Tray Anthony Dvorak, 37, said "the devil made me do it," according to officials.

Deputies with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office responded Thursday night to a report that a car had breached the airport's fence and drove onto the tarmac, the agency said. The vehicle then retreated from the tarmac and was engaged by deputies before crashing through the doors and windows of a terminal and ending up inside of it, the statement said.

In the aftermath, broken terminal doors were boarded up. Concrete barriers reinforced the bent and twisted metal of Gate A3, where Dvorak busted through.

[The perimeter fence] is not really meant to be an impenetrable barrier. Unfortunately, perimeter breaches happen from time to time," said Jeff Price, Professor of Aviation at the Metropolitan State University of Denver.

The bigger threat was the car getting into the terminal, he explained.

"It’s a recommended security procedure to put bollards in front of the doors," he said. "Some airports have them. Some airports don’t."

Dvorak was not able to breach TSA.

"That’s really the last line before you get out to accessing the aircraft, at least from the interior of the facility. In this case, oddly enough, he had access to the aircraft from the outside when he drove through the perimeter fence," said Price.

Dvorak was charged with assault, trespassing on airport property, speeding to elude arrest, disorderly conduct and resisting a government official, the sheriff’s office said. It wasn't immediately clear if Dvorak has an attorney.

The airport said in a statement it remained open with minimal impact to its operations.

Jeff Bourk, the ILM Airport Director, said, “I want to thank New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, other law enforcement agencies, airport staff, and our airport partners that acted quickly and effectively last night. I am very proud of our team. I also want to thank Monteith Construction, who responded quickly overnight to make temporary repairs to the fence line and terminal front, so normal operations could resume. ILM has been and continues to be fully in compliance with TSA security requirements. The airport is open and fully operational. ILM will continue to support our partners during this active investigation. Please direct any law enforcement related questions to NHCSO and any TSA related questions to the TSA.”

The airport is crediting New Hanover County Sheriff's deputies for "acting quickly and effectively."