Central Nebraska man sentenced to federal prison in 2021 airport standoff

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A Hamilton County man was sentenced Thursday for sneaking onto an empty plane with a rifle, sparking a 2021 airport standoff.

Tyler Caudill, 22, of Phillips was sentenced to three years and one month in prison for possession of a firearm while being a drug user.

He took a plea bargain in February and could have faced up to 10 years on the charge.

After serving his prison sentence, Caudill will serve three years on supervised release.

Caudill was arrested on May 4, 2021, after his father reported his AR-15 assault rifle missing.

Security cameras at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport in Grand Island later caught Caudill sneaking through the aviation building, onto the tarmac, and into a parked 11-person Cessna Citation Bravo aircraft with the stolen AR-15.

Two pilots later found Caudill asleep on the plane and called police after removing the rifle.

Grand Island Police arrived and saw Caudill messing with the plane’s controls after waking up.

A tactical team eventually deployed chemical munitions to remove Caudill from the aircraft.

The standoff caused an inbound flight from Dallas to be diverted to Kansas.

Caudill was hospitalized and admitted to being under the influence of marijuana.

He claimed that he was trying to fly to a bunker in Montana.