We have no video recordings of the reported incidents
En algún momento indeterminado, una persona común cruzó el perímetro de uno de los aeropuertos más vigilados de Chile, llegó hasta la pista y dejó su firma en spray sobre un avión de JetSmart sin que ninguna alarma sonara ni ningún guardia lo advirtiera. El incidente permaneció invisible hasta que un operador de seguridad, en su turno nocturno, tropezó por azar con las fotografías del acto en Instagram. Lo que esta historia revela no es solo una falla técnica, sino una pregunta más profunda sobre la naturaleza de la vigilancia moderna: ¿quién cuida los espacios que se supone nadie puede cruzar?
- Un desconocido atravesó una abertura ilegal en el cerco perimetral del Aeropuerto Arturo Merino Benítez y llegó hasta un avión en mantención sin activar ninguna alarma ni ser detectado por el personal de seguridad.
- La brecha permaneció completamente ignorada por un período desconocido —días o quizás semanas— hasta que el propio vandalizador documentó el acto en Instagram con fotografías y videos que mostraban cómo había ingresado.
- Fue el azar, y no el sistema de vigilancia, lo que destapó el incidente: un operador de seguridad que revisaba Instagram durante su turno nocturno reconoció las imágenes y alertó de inmediato a su supervisor.
- La DGAC respondió defendiendo sus protocolos —cámaras 24/7, patrullaje continuo, cerco de más de 26 kilómetros— pero admitió indirectamente que no existen registros de video del momento del ingreso.
- La Fiscalía Metropolitana Occidente asignó el caso a la DEINSA, que tiene 30 días para identificar al responsable mediante análisis de cámaras, huellas dactilares y reconocimiento fotográfico.
Nadie sabe exactamente cuándo ocurrió. Lo que sí es cierto es que una persona sin autorización logró colarse por una abertura en el cerco perimetral del Aeropuerto Arturo Merino Benítez, avanzar hasta la pista y pintar con spray un avión de JetSmart que estaba detenido por mantención. No sonó ninguna alarma. Nadie fue detenido. El hecho no dejó rastro inmediato en los registros del aeropuerto.
El incidente salió a la luz el 31 de mayo, no gracias al sistema de seguridad, sino por pura casualidad. Un operador de turno nocturno revisaba Instagram cuando encontró publicaciones que mostraban el acto en detalle: imágenes del avión vandalizado, una que revelaba cómo había ingresado, y otra en la que el propio autor posaba con los brazos cruzados junto a la turbina derecha de la aeronave, con el grafiti visible detrás de él. El operador alertó a su supervisor de inmediato; una verificación en terreno confirmó que todo era real.
El perfil del responsable, reconstruido a partir de su cuenta de Instagram —luego eliminada—, apuntaba a alguien con experiencia en vandalizar espacios restringidos. Decenas de imágenes lo mostraban junto a asociados interviniendo carros del Metro de Santiago, incluso en talleres de mantención. Para él, llegar al aeropuerto era, según sus propias palabras, "cumplir un sueño".
En su declaración oficial, el coordinador de turno del aeropuerto admitió algo perturbador: no había registros de video del incidente y se desconocía si había ocurrido ese día o antes. La única fecha certera era la de las publicaciones en redes sociales. Sin ese encuentro fortuito con una imagen en Instagram, la brecha podría haber permanecido invisible durante semanas.
La DGAC respondió a las críticas destacando que el aeropuerto cuenta con circuito cerrado de televisión monitoreado las 24 horas, patrullaje continuo en vehículos oficiales y un cerco perimetral de más de 26 kilómetros que cumple estándares internacionales. Señalaron que el sector afectado no estaba operativo en ese momento. Sin embargo, declinaron dar más detalles, aduciendo la investigación en curso. El caso fue asignado a la DEINSA, unidad especializada de la PDI, que tiene 30 días para identificar al responsable. La pregunta de fondo —cómo alguien cruzó todo ese sistema sin ser visto— sigue sin respuesta.
Nobody knows exactly when it happened or how someone managed it. What is certain, at least for now, is that an ordinary person slipped past the security controls at Santiago's main airport, made their way onto the tarmac, and spray-painted a JetSmart aircraft that was sitting idle for maintenance.
No alarms sounded. No one was arrested. There were no immediate reports. The breach remained invisible until May 31st, when a security operator scrolling through Instagram almost by accident came across a post showing what had been done. Startled by the images, he alerted his supervisor immediately. A quick check on the ground confirmed it: someone without authorization had accessed one of the most restricted zones in Chile's principal airport.
Neither Nueva Pudahuel, the company that operates Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, nor the Civil Aviation Authority would answer questions about what had occurred. But the vandal himself had no such reluctance. On Sunday evening, he posted photographs and videos of his work to Instagram, documenting the breach in detail. One image showed how he'd gotten in. Another, possibly taken by a companion, captured him standing with arms crossed in a defiant pose beside the right turbine of the JetSmart plane, his handiwork visible behind him.
Based on his social media activity, this appeared to be his first time targeting airport infrastructure. The Santiago Metro system, by contrast, seemed to be a favorite hunting ground. His now-deleted Instagram account held dozens of images showing him and his associates vandalizing Metro cars, some in restricted areas like the company's maintenance workshops. He had called this latest act "achieving a dream."
When the DGAC security operator discovered the Instagram post during the night shift on May 31st, he reported it up the chain immediately. His supervisor verified the graffiti was real, then contacted police. In his official statement, the shift coordinator noted something troubling: they found an illegal opening in the perimeter fence. But there was a larger problem embedded in his account. "We have no video recordings of the reported incidents," he wrote. "We do not know if these occurred yesterday or earlier. The only clear date we have is when the video and photographs were posted on social media." Without that random encounter with an Instagram post—without the algorithm serving up the right image to the right person at the right moment—days or even weeks might have passed before anyone at the airport realized a civilian had breached one of the country's most secure zones.
The Metropolitan West Prosecutor's Office assigned the case to DEINSA, the airport investigation unit of Chile's investigative police. They have thirty days to figure out how the breach happened and who was responsible. Their work will focus on photo identification with potential witnesses, analysis of security camera footage if it exists, fingerprint collection, and any other physical evidence left at the scene. The lead prosecutor, Pedro Aravena Arriagada, is overseeing the initial investigation.
In response to questions about the security failure, the Civil Aviation Authority issued a statement emphasizing that the airport operates a closed-circuit television system monitored around the clock, that the perimeter—stretching more than twenty-six kilometers—is patrolled continuously by security personnel in official vehicles, and that the fence itself meets international aviation standards. They noted that the sector where the vandal entered was not in active operation at the time, and that the aircraft parked there were not in service. They declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing internal investigation and the police inquiry. The question of how someone got past all that security, and why it took a social media post to reveal it, remains unanswered.
Citações Notáveis
We have no video recordings of the reported incidents, and we do not know if these occurred yesterday or earlier. The only clear date we have is when the video and photographs were posted on social media.— DGAC shift coordinator, in official statement to police
I achieved a dream— The vandal, in Instagram posts documenting the breach
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
How does someone just walk onto an airport tarmac without triggering anything?
That's what everyone wants to know. There's a fence, patrols, cameras supposedly running 24/7. But a fence can have a hole. Patrols can miss a window. And cameras only matter if someone's actually watching them, or if anyone reviews the footage.
So the airport didn't even know it happened until Instagram?
Not until a security operator happened to see the post while scrolling. If that person hadn't been on their phone at that exact moment, or if the algorithm had shown them something else, the breach might have gone undetected for weeks. That's what the official statement essentially admits.
Why would someone do this? Just to prove they could?
He called it achieving a dream. For him, it was about the act itself—getting somewhere he wasn't supposed to be, leaving his mark where it mattered. He'd been doing it to the Metro for a while. The airport was the next level.
Is there any chance he gets caught?
The police have fingerprints, video from Instagram showing his face, possibly security footage if they can find it. He made it easy by documenting everything himself. The hard part is that nobody knows when it actually happened. Could have been days before the post.
What does this say about airport security in Chile?
It says the system has gaps. Not catastrophic ones necessarily—he was just spray-painting, not smuggling anything dangerous. But it shows that the layers of protection aren't as seamless as they're supposed to be. A fence with a hole. Patrols that don't see everything. Cameras that nobody's watching in real time.