Police have arrested an allegedly intoxicated 53-year-old American woman for running onto an airport runway in a bid stop her flight taking off after she arrived late at her gate to find it closed.

The incident took place at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in the city of Phoenix, which is located in the US state of Arizona, on Monday 27th December.

The woman, who has been named as Vickie Meyers, was reportedly intoxicated and late for her flight, and she was apparently confused over when her flight was taking off.

Meyers, who is from St. Louis in Missouri, is said to have attempted to board the plane by entering numbers into a keypad at the gate door inside the airport, but the gate was already closed, and so she eventually allegedly opted to use the emergency doors that lead to the tarmac.

Meyers was contained by ground crew before police showed up and arrested her. She faces being charged with criminal trespassing and burglary.

Police say that Meyers had arrived at her gate only to find that it had closed. So she then “decided to run through the double glass doors separating the passenger area and the secure airfield”.

She then ran down a flight of stairs to her plane, according to a statement from the arresting officer, who has not been named.

Meyers is also said to have run straight past signs reading “no trespassing” and “felony”, according to the officer. The signs were reportedly both displayed in both English and Spanish.

She was stopped by airline staff as she was making her way towards the nose of the aircraft.

She told the arresting police officer that she was “attempting to have the plane stop so she would not miss a flight”, according to the police.

Meyers has been released and allowed to return to St. Louis, but she is due back in Arizona in January for a court hearing over the incident.

It is unclear if she had been charged at the time of writing.